A Dragon's Wish
by Jedi Jelsa777
Summary: AU world where Natsu is a dragon and Lucy is a princess. Whatever could a dragon wish for? Join Natsu and Lucy as they strive to save the kingdom from those who would take it by force.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, first I want to say I took severe artistic liberties with people and locations, especially on the locations really. I was too lazy to come up with my own names, so I took names of places in Fairy Tail and just moved them around. So if where something in my story isn't where it's supposed to be in Fairy Tail, now you know XD Neither the Exceeds or any form of them will be making an appearance in this story, I just couldn't quite decide how to make them fit and when I was over halfway through and still hadn't figured it out, I just decided not to worry about it.**

**Also a huge thank you to FTAnt for helping me not only name my fic, but giving me more inspiration by coming up with the title for this fic for me! Seriously, all he saw were the first two parts of this story and he came up with it, but it gave me so many ideas for the rest of it and even got the ending changed from what it was originally going to be! FYI, I love the ending I came up with way better than my original plan XD**

Natsu the dragon was lonely. His father, Igneel, had disappeared many moons ago and he hadn't heard from him since. Nobody wanted to see a dragon coming and with no other dragons, that Natsu knew of, in the area, Natsu was seriously craving some companionship. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. He would go in search of companionship, whether it was by finding his father or someone else to talk to.

Standing up on his four legs, Natsu unfurled his wings as he exited the cave he had shared with his father. Looking over his shoulder, he wondered if he would ever see it again. The stars twinkled above him and he knew he had a few hours left where he could travel without worry of being spotted from the ground. So with one last glance at the cave he had called home for as long as he could remember, Natsu threw himself into the sky, his red scales keeping the worst of the coolness of the night out.

XXX

Lucy was alone at last. She had snuck out of the castle via the hidden passageway that her mother had showed her many years ago. Lucy sighed, trying to push her thoughts away from those happier times. She didn't need any more sad thoughts in her mind, as it was, she was out here simply to find a place where she could scream without being overheard. Her father loved her dearly, but when her mother died, it was like he had died too. He was just a shell of the man she remembered. His health had been declining these past few months and so he desperately wanted to see his daughter and kingdom safe while he still could.

That is why he had arranged for her to marry a prince of the neighboring kingdom, Dan, a well know womanizer, whose own father was hoping that marriage would settle his boy down. Lucy knew that her father doing this was out of both love and concern for her and their people, but she wished she could have been as lucky as her parents, marrying for love. Looking up at the stars, she allowed the tears she had hid earlier to break free as she whispered, "Oh mom, what should I do?"

Then with a sob, she dropped to her knees, the dress she had "borrowed" from the maid cushioning them so she hardly felt them hit the ground. Or perhaps it was because she was lost in her heartache that caused her not to notice anything. Whatever the reason, Lucy stayed there for a while and just let all of her emotions loose.

When she finally stopped crying, she told herself that she needed to start thinking of the positive sides of this predicament. Like since Dan was the younger brother of another heir, she would hopefully be allowed to stay in the castle that she had lived in all her life, the place where the memories of her mother were. Standing from where she had fallen to the ground, she started to wander as she tried to think up more, like she wouldn't have to leave the servants, whom she considered her friends, behind nor her father either.

Lucy sighed to herself, that was another thing to worry about, her father's sudden decline in health. She wished she knew a better healer than the old quack they had found, she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him. In fact, she was almost certain that her father's health wasn't getting better because of the quack. She barely stopped another sigh from escaping, she had been doing much too much of that recently in her opinion, but it felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders and only getting heavier.

She dropped down to the ground again after a while and yawned, suddenly tired. The long, stressful day, not to mention her walk through the woods had finally caught up with her. She leaned up against a tree, one that was barely inside the woods and whispered to herself, "I'll just shut my eyes for a few minutes, then I will go home." But more famous last words were never spoken, for Lucy didn't reopen her eyes in a few minutes, but rather a few hours.

XXX

When Lucy did awaken, she stretched and felt her bones crack in her spine as she groaned and said "Where am I?" Than it all came back to her and she found herself instantly awake. Looking at the lightening sky, she gasped and said "I need to get home before I am missed!" But just than something caught her eye, a shape that blocked the few remaining stars for an instant. Curious, she slowly made her way in the direction of the shape, keeping to the edge of the woods for protection.

When she finally came over a small crest that had blocked her view, she threw a hand over her mouth to keep back her gasp of surprise. There, in the valley and heading towards an old mining shaft, was a dragon! His red scales glimmered in the sunlight that started to peak over the trees as his wings collapsed against his body. Even from this distance, she could hear him panting with exhaustion and she worried that it might be unwell.

A part of her forgot that this was a dragon, she saw only a creature that may need help and not one that could possibly eat her. She heard him groan as he settled himself just out of sight in the man-made cave. She waited, listening until she heard what she assumed was a dragon snore. Then she crept her way towards the cave, her mind forgetting to tell herself that she should be afraid of this creature. He wasn't very big, not much larger than a draft horse in her mind, though his neck and tail added extra length to him than a horse would have. However, she would do well to remember that he had the ability to be deadly with those sharp teeth and claws. Not to mention the fiery breath of dragon.

Still, nothing in her mind reminded her of that danger and so she bravely, but quietly made her way into the cave, not wanting to disturb his rest. Once her eyes adjusted, she had to throw her hand on her mouth once more, for she saw many injuries on the dragon. Forgetting all sense of caution, she ran up to him, stopping by his side. Here and there an arrow had pierced his skin and looking at the thin membrane of the wings she was surprised he had been able to fly and land with such grace, for there were many tears from where the arrows had passed through.

She wondered where he had come from and where he had ran into trouble, for the quills matched none of her father or his lord's feathers. Taking stock of what she would need, she slipped back out of the cave and went to the nearby town, her dress and the hood of her cape doing an amazing job at hiding her identity. Lucy knew her father must be missing her by now, but the dragon needed help! Once she had everything she needed to heal him, as well as some meat that she hoped he would like, she headed back into the woods, being sure to check that no one would follow her.

Nobody did, for which she was thankful and Lucy almost smiled as she slipped into the cave. Sitting on the ground, she took out a hollowed dish from her bag of supplies and picked up a nearby rock. She ground some of the herbs she had both bought and gathered into a paste, hoping that she would have enough for his wounds. Lucy wished her father's ailment had been external, something she could have healed, but the inner workings of the body were a mystery to her.

Finally, when she had enough paste to hopefully do one side of his body, she went and fetched a bucket of water from a nearby spring, one known for its purity having been blessed many years ago by the unicorns. Or at least, well known to those in the healing realm, her mother had taught her much of what she knew including about which springs were blessed by the unicorns and were not only safe to use in cleansing wounds, but would also help speed up the healing process.

Now came the moment of truth. The dragon could just wake up and eat her for touching him where he was hurting, he might also throw her by accident and hurt her. Or maybe, he would realize that she was there to help and do nothing, which is what Lucy hopped for. Sticking a clean strip of cloth into the water, she went to one on his long snout and gently started dabbing.

XXX

Natsu awoke instantly at the feeling of something touching his face, but something told him to remain calm and not to move. He slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to see a beautiful, blond human gently dabbing at his face. Had he died and this was the afterlife? If so, his wounds still hurt and he wished they would stop. He stopped his musings as he saw the human staring into his eyes as she softly said "Don't worry, I'm here to help." Natsu believed her and relaxed under her touch.

XXX

Lucy smiled as she felt him relax and almost chuckled at the look in his eyes when she stopped dabbing at the cut, leaving the strip of cloth there as she made her way over to her supplies. She hesitated as she came back and said "I've never healed a dragon before, so I don't know if this will help, but if I remember something I read once correctly this will help with the pain you must surely be in." Lucy said as she held a rather large strip of bark in her hands. Natsu looked at her questioningly as she said "You'll need to chew it. Once it takes effect, let me know and I will use that time to sew some of the tears in your wings up."

Natsu wasn't entirely sure he could trust her, but at this point he figured what did he have to lose, so he opened his mouth and let her place the bark within. He chewed it as she moved to get the paste she had made and by the time that was done he had swallowed the bark. Carefully she applied it to the deep cut she had just finished cleaning, wanting to be sure she got enough in it for it to work, but also wanting to be sure she had enough to last for all of his injuries.

Moving to his exposed side, she saw a few arrows were still embedded in his side. Going to her bag, she took out the slab of meat she had bought for him, noticing his eyes light up at the sight of food. "Don't chew or swallow it just yet, but hold it in your mouth. I need to remove a few arrows and it's the only thing I can think of for you to bite down on." Lucy warned him. Natsu nodded his understanding, accepting the food and doing with it as she had instructed.

He didn't roar like she thought he would when she pulled the arrows out, rather he groaned deeply, signify how much pain he was in as Lucy pulled the arrows out as gently as she could. Once the three she had seen on this side were pulled, she said "Let me check the other side, then we'll take a break so you can eat while you recover from this." Natsu moved so his other side was visible and Lucy nearly broke into tears to see the injuries on this side, they were worse looking than the ones on the other. Thankfully there were only two arrows on this side, but that was a small comfort. She made quick work than let said "Okay you can eat now while I go grab another bucket of water."

Pulling the items out and placing them on her cape, she used the other bucket she had put her supplies into to go get a second bucket of the cleansing water. This one she dumped directly on his more severely wounded side, earning the roar she had expected from the arrows. Hugging his leg carefully she said "I'm sorry, but I'll have to do it a few more times and then clean it like I did with the cut on your face, I don't want you to get an infection." Natsu whimpered, but it was more at the kindness this human was showing, rather than the thought of the future pain.

Once Lucy had done her last trip with the bucket she asked "Is the pain down enough where I can sew some of those tears on your wings now?" Natsu nodded, though after she started he wished he had another thing of meat to bite onto. Lucy worked as carefully, but as quickly as she could, cleaning the tears and then sewing them shut, on two of them applying the paste as well, for they were near where the fragile bones made their way through the dragon's wings.

It took the better part of the day, but finally all of Natsu's cuts had been cleaned and the paste applied, they just barely had enough to make it. Lucy collapsed to the ground and sighed with exhaustion. "There. The waters should help heal you, in fact everything should be pretty much fully healed in a week. A few of the deeper cuts need to be cleaned another time or two and the paste reapplied, but other than that, you are good to go." Lucy said as she smiled at the dragon.

She was surprised when the dragon responded "Thank you, but why did you help me?" "You can talk!?" Lucy exclaimed. Natsu puffed out a little smoke as he said "Of course I can talk, why couldn't I?" Lucy chuckled and said "Guess you've got a point. Sorry, you're the first dragon I've ever seen and none of the things I read ever mentioned you could talk." "Probably because no one ever takes the time to find out." Said Natsu, a little bitterly.

Lucy put her hand sympathetically on his leg, earning another surprised look from him as she said "I'm sorry about that and for whoever shot you, it's not right. My name is Lucy." Natsu found Lucy's smile contagious, so he gave her one of his own in return as he said "No need to apologize Lucy. I'm Natsu." "A pleasure to meet you Natsu, though I wish it was under better circumstance." Lucy said sadly. "You never really did answer my question, why did you help me? Couldn't you be undoing the work of those that are supposed to protect you?" Natsu asked.

Lucy shook her head and said "I helped you because you needed it. As for it being someone from this kingdom who shot you, I don't think so as I don't recognize the colors on the arrow's shaft and the overall quality is much better than someone any lower than lord would have. These are from outsiders… wait how far away were you injured at?" Lucy was suddenly worried for her father, for no one had sent a declaration of visitation nor had anyone requested an audience with him, she should know as it was her job to keep track of such things.

Natsu frowned and said "Not too from here, maybe fifteen minutes tops. Do you think they mean harm towards your kingdom then?" Lucy sighed and said "I don't know, but I should probably go and check on my father and try to find some way of finding out if he is expecting someone I don't know or if he knows who these colors belong to." Natsu frown turned to a look of confusion as he asked "Why would your father know such things?" Lucy answered "Because he is the king of Fiore."

With surprise evident on his face and in his voice, Natsu asked "You're a princess? How do you know so much about healing? I always heard human princesses and princes were lazy, no offense." "None taken, unfortunately many of those in the nearby kingdoms would fall under that description. Yes, I am a princess and my mother was the one who taught me." Natsu grinned and said "She did an amazing job." He looked out at the darkening night and frowned once more as he asked "Will you be safe going home alone? What if those humans are out there?"

Lucy had to admit, the thought of heading into the night knowing strangers were about was not very settling, however they would probably mistake her for some beggar woman. "I'll leave everything but my cape with you, if anyone sees me they won't think I'm a princess, after all you didn't." Natsu grinned and said "True." But than his face got serious as he said "Be careful though Lucy." Lucy promised she would before saying "One thing before I go, what is a dragon like you doing around here? I haven't heard of any in our area for quite some time, in fact I haven't heard of any being here in my lifetime."

Natsu looked at the ground, embarrassed to admit it, but feeling compelled to tell her the truth rather than lie. "I was lonely. My father disappeared many moons ago and I haven't had anyone to talk to in that time. I finally couldn't stand being alone and went looking for a friend. Didn't think I would run into a non-dragon who would feel like talking to me." Lucy gently hugged his neck than, surprising him once more at her compassion and gentleness, as she said "I promise, I will be back soon, maybe even tonight and then we can talk."

"I'd like that." Natsu admitted, doing his best to keep the tears that threated to spill at bay, at least until he was alone. He finally had someone to talk to and it was just so overwhelming, the happiness that was spreading through him that is, so his emotions were all over the place. Lucy headed off into the night, not knowing how much her life was going to change in those next hours.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucy stopped just before opening the doorway that would bring her from the secret passageway into the main castle. Something wasn't right, a magical presence that did not belong to anyone she knew, whose level of power matched their own head wizard, Gildarts, was somewhere nearby. Lucy knew whoever it was wasn't here for a good reason, his aura said as much, but she also knew she wasn't strong enough to deal with him. She would need to go to Gildarts' quarters and see if he knew what to do. Carefully she reversed directions and made her way through the castle.

Finally she arrived at Gildarts' rooms, slowly opening the door to see if he was there. He was and, thankfully, he was alone. "Gildarts, what is going on?" Gildarts looked up in surprise and said "Princess, what are you doing here? Never mind don't answer that, you need to leave now." "What, why?" asked Lucy. "Your father's life depends on it. Jose Porla of the Phantom Realm is here." Lucy gasped, she had heard of Jose and his ruthless ways.

"How would my leaving help my father?" she questioned. "Jose wants this kingdom to be a part of his. But, combined, the other countries are too strong and would be quick to come to your aid if they knew what was wrong. He wants to marry you Lucy, he heard about you from Dan when he was in disguise there, probably scouting it for a possible takeover. He needs your father alive until he can find you to make the shifting of the kingdom appear natural and he also knows that you would never marry him if he did something to your father, so for now he is safe, so long as you keep away." Gildarts explained.

Lucy nodded firmly, hiding her fear and sorrow as she calmly said "Alright, I will go. I will go, get help and return!" Gildarts chuckled and said "I'm sure you will kiddo. Listen, head to Magnolia, my daughter Cana has lived there ever since Cornelia left me and took her with her. She should be able to help you. Look for a group called Fairy Tail and you'll find Cana." "Right." Lucy said, hugging the man before starting to return to the passageway when he said "Wait."

She paused and he reached for a few items, throwing them in a bag. "Jose hasn't had time to search my quarters yet. It would be best if his eyes were never laid upon them, so please take these with you as well as the coin I have set aside. That should help you get to Magnolia. Feel free to look at the books, maybe you can learn some more spells while you are gone." Gildarts had been teaching her magic since she was little, mainly stuff to help keep her safe, but some fun spells as well.

She nodded and said "I will take them. Thank you Gildarts. Stay safe, I will be back as soon as I can." With one final hug, she slipped into the secret passageway, the edges of the hidden door lining up with the walls so well that unless you knew where to look you would never see it, in fact even if you did know you might miss it. Gildarts whispered "Be safe princess."

XXX

Lucy returned to the cave, finding Natsu still awake despite the lateness of the hour, anxious to know if she was okay. She saw him visibly relax before he asked "So how did it go? Did your father know who the arrows belonged to?" Lucy frowned and said "I didn't get a chance to ask him. Our castle has been taken over by the one I'm pretty sure they do belong to though, Jose Porla of the Phantom Realm. He must have thought you were part of our protection, I'm sorry Natsu."

She finally allowed the tears she had been holding back to slip from her eyes and it was the dragon's turn to comfort her, wrapping his neck around her in a hug as he said "Hey, he probably just wanted the glory of taking down a dragon." "Thanks." She sniffed, "I need to get to Magnolia and look for a Gildarts' daughter, Cana." Natsu frowned as he pulled away so he could see her face, "Who is Gildarts?" "He's a wizard who works for my father. He kept me from being found out and told me where to go to get help for my father. Jose will keep him alive until he can marry me."

Natsu growled, no one should be forced into a marriage, especially one with someone evil like Jose Porla, he had heard stories from Igneel about him. Then he sighed, a sound that surprised Lucy as it was more like a hiss, as he said "I wish I could fly you there, it would be safer and faster than walking. I mean you have to go pretty close to the Phantom Realm to get to Magnolia." Lucy knew he was right, having studied geography as well as from needing to keep track of where her allies were.

Suddenly Natsu slammed his paw down, startling her out of her thoughts as he said "Wait until I am better and then I will fly you there!" Lucy looked surprised and said "You would do that for me?" "Of course, not only did you help me but you're my friend!" Natsu declared. Tears once more threatened Lucy as she flung herself carefully against his neck as she said "Thank you Natsu." Natsu nodded and said "Give me a week and we'll be flying to Magnolia."

XXX

The days passed slowly, both worried that they would be discovered if not by Jose or his men than by someone else who would do them harm. Only once did someone come even close to their hiding place though, and Natsu had smelled him so they had moved further back into the old mine shaft. Whoever it was never ventured in and soon left the area. Lucy had cleansed his cuts and reapplied the paste a few more times, having gone into town once more for supplies for both her and Natsu.

Lucy felt bad she couldn't bring him lots of food but he told her dragons were used to going long periods of time without food, they had to otherwise there would be nothing left in the world for them to eat. At night, Lucy read the books Gildarts had given her for safe keeping, practicing some of the spells that seemed simple enough, though she accidentally turned Natsu both pink and then blue once each before getting his scales back to normal. The night before they left Lucy found one that was very interesting.

"Hey Natsu listen to the description of this one. It says it can turn a creature or person into another type of creature or person, all you need is an item like hair or fur, your own that is, made into something you can easily wear and as long as it is on you, then you will maintain that form. The moment you take it off, you start returning to your original form." Lucy said. "So it can be like a disguise?" he asked.

"Or if you just simply always wanted to see what it was like to be something else. Like say you wanted to try being a cat, first you would gather some hair, or in your case I suppose it would be your scales, and then either make or have them made into an item you can wear, like a ring or something. Than magically embed them so they will grow or shrink with you to match the size of your new form. After that it's simply a matter of saying the right words over the item, then thinking about what you want to be and then poof, you have now taken on that new form. You can only use it to change into one form, however, so you have to pick carefully before you being." Lucy explained.

Natsu was quiet for a minute before cautiously asking, "Do you think I could be able to become human then? I would love to see some towns without people screaming in horror." Lucy smiled at him and said "I'm sure you could." She reached down to pick up some of his scales that had come off, all of them having turned pale white as he had shed them, new ones growing in to replace them around his wounds. "What would you want to wear?" she asked.

Natsu considered this before replying "A scarf." "A scarf?" she questioned. Natsu nodded and said "When I was little I used to lay my neck over my father's and he would wrap his around mine. It always made me feel safe. A scarf will be like having dad with me." Lucy smiled softly at his sentimental reasoning behind the request and she said "Okay, I'll get to work on these, binding them together with magic as well as adding the necessary enchantments and saying the words for you."

She quickly gathered all of the scales Natsu had lost before looking up the words she needed to bind them together as well as to make the item shrink with him to human size. She also added an enchantment to make sure he was clothed when he became human, no need to be scaring people in another way after all. Lucy worked on it long into the night, while Natsu tried to stay awake to keep her company but quickly ended up losing the battle as she asked him to remain quiet so she could concentrate. When he awoke the next morning, Lucy was asleep under his wing, a place she had started taking refuge in to keep warm at night.

Eager to try on the scarf but not wanting to wake her, Natsu went back to sleep, hoping that time would pass him more quickly there. It did and when he next awoke, Lucy was awake. She smiled and said "Ready to try it on? I've already said the words over it to turn you human, though you'll still have to think it to make it work." Natsu nodded before holding still as Lucy wrapped it around his neck. Once it was settled against his scales, he felt a tingling sensation. Slowly he morphed from a dragon into a pink haired human. Lucy hoped that the pink hair wasn't left over from that other spell she had miscast a few days ago.

Once the transformation was complete, Lucy motioned to a bucket of water she had fetched for just this purpose. "Have a look." She said, having cast a spell to make the water surface mirror clear. Natsu walked towards the bucket, wobbly as he got used to his legs, Lucy just catching him once before he fell to the floor. "It's weird not having my tail for balance." He said, earning a chuckle from Lucy. Then, with her help, he finally reached the bucket and looked in. He stared for a long while without saying anything, causing Lucy to finally ask "Do you like it?" Natsu turned to her beaming as he said "Like it? I love it! Thank you Lucy."

He sighed and said "I wish I could stay in this form a bit longer, but we should get out of here. The clouds are low and will provide us with good cover from Jose's men." "Right, hand me the scarf and I'll put it in my bag." Lucy had a small bag, just big enough to contain the books of Gildarts, what was left of the money he had given her, some food and a few medicinal herbs, just in case. She had left space for Natsu's scarf when she had packed it this morning, having used the item itself to be sure it would fit.

Reluctantly, Natsu unwound the scarf from around his neck and handed it to Lucy. Instantly the tingling sensation returned and the slow process with it, though this time in reverse of course. He soon stood before her once again in his dragon form. Lucy smiled at him and said "The book says that if you do it often enough the transitions will become faster." Natsu just smiled as his answer, before lowering himself to the ground and saying "Climb aboard."

Lucy carefully did so, she didn't want to hurt him and while she knew he was a strong dragon, there were a few spots that were still healing from the attack. Once she was settled, Natsu cautiously exited the cave, taking big whiffs of air to see if anyone was nearby. As soon as he was sure his senses were right and that there was no one there, Natsu exited the cave with Lucy. Unfurling his wings as soon as he was clear, he gave them an experimental flap. The healing water and paste had done their jobs well on his wings, they felt as strong as ever.

Turning his head just enough so he could look at Lucy with one eye he asked "Are you ready?" Lucy tightened her grip on his neck a little before nodding and saying "Yes." With a grin, Natsu said "Hang on!" Then with two bounding steps and a great flapping of his wings, Natsu and Lucy were airborne. Lucy kept her eyes tightly shut for the first part, but she opened them just before they entered the clouds and she could see her castle in the distance.

"Natsu, this is amazing!" she let out in a whisper, one which Natsu caught with ease thanks to his hearing being stronger than that of a human, causing him to smile. A little louder, she asked "How long do you think it will take to reach Magnolia?" "The country itself? Two days at the most, but then we have to find this Fairy Tail group, which means stopping and asking questions. Hopefully they are well known enough that we won't have to stop too much."

Hours passed and Lucy now sat up without much fear of falling off. Besides, if she did, she had a feeling Natsu would catch her in time. With nothing much to do, Lucy let her mind wander and unfortunately that led her to thinking about her father and kingdom. Could Fairy Tail help her save them? While Lucy wasn't sure, her hope was strong and she knew that if she was going to make it through this she would have to believe that they could. For the other alternative wasn't that bright at all.

XXX

The days passed quickly and they soon arrived in Magnolia. They didn't stop on the very edge of the country, still wanting to make sure that there was some distance between them and the Phantom Realm, but they only went about an hour's flight into it. When they set down, Lucy wrapped Natsu's scarf around his neck for him, watching the slow transition unfold once more. "Before we go any further, let's get you used to this new body of yours, we really didn't get much time to practice in the cave or our stops on the way here." Lucy suggested, something for which Natsu was grateful.

The better part of the day was spent with Natsu learning how to use his muscles in new ways, to learn how to do things without his tail for counterbalance and with Lucy telling basic things about how to act in public. "Better let me take the lead for a bit when we go into towns, okay Natsu?" "Sounds like a good idea to me." Natsu said, giving her the same beaming smile he gave her when he first saw his human form.

Which reminded Lucy of something and she groaned, earning a questioning look from Natsu as he asked "Lucy?" "Okay so while there are people with pink hair, I'm worried that that spell I messed up on caused your hair to be pink in some way and while I think it suits you, some people might tease you about it, so try not to get mad okay?" Natsu reached up to touch his hair and though he couldn't see it, that didn't bother him and if Lucy liked the color he could live with that.

He pulled her into a hug and said "Don't worry about it Lucy, I'm sure it probably would have been this color even if you hadn't messed up on that spell." Lucy knew he was just trying to cheer her up, but it worked and she returned the hug as she said "Okay, I'll try not to worry about it. Just try to keep your temper under control, please. We need to keep a low profile and your hair color could already be something that would stand out in someone's memory without the added bit of either witnessing or being in a fight with you."

Natsu grinned and replied "I'll do my best not to do that." Lucy sighed, but she knew that Natsu's promise was about as good as she was going to get so she accepted it. They started walking towards the town they had landed relatively near and reached it in about thirty minutes. "Excuse me, but we're new in Magnolia and I promised a family friend that I would look up their daughter and see how she was doing. Do you by chance know how I can find a guild called Fairy Tail?"

The person she asked laughed and said "I can do you both one better. I'm on my way there myself to check in and see my girlfriend. It's just a few days walk from here in Hargeon, you're welcome to come with me." Lucy looked at Natsu for his okay and he nodded to which she replied "Thanks, that would be great! I'm Lucy and this is Natsu." "I'm Jellal, it's nice to meet you both. Who are you going to see, if you don't mind my asking?" "Cana…" "Oh I know Cana!" Jellal interrupted, "Maybe she'll read your fortunes while you are there."

XXX

The next couple of days were spent laughing and talking with Jellal, Natsu relishing in having another friend, even if it was only for just a short while. Neither of them had caught the part where he said he was checking in and therefore letting them know he was a member of Fairy Tail himself. The third day of their journey, they crested a hill as Jellal said "There is Hargeon." Natsu and Lucy looked at the port in awe. Fiore was land bound so Lucy had never been to the ocean and Natsu had just stuck to the area around his cave until Igneel left.

The sight of the ocean was amazing, not to mention the bustling port town itself. Suddenly a flash of light came from a building in pretty much the center of town, causing Jellal to chuckle and say "And there is Fairy Tail."

**AN: So in this story magic works a bit differently, though not much, then it does in Fairy Tail. For instance there are starter spells that anyone with just a hint of magic can do, like the ones Gildarts taught Lucy for protection and fun. Then there are some that anyone can do and not struggle with it (ie not like when Lucy, Natsu and Happy learned/try to learn Take Over from Mira) but requires more knowledge and magic power levels then the basic stuff and generally aren't that well known or widely taught, like the magic Lucy used to make the scarf help Natsu transition between dragon and human. Then there are still the regular magic of Fairy Tail, ie Maker Magic, Celestial Wizard, etc. Just wanted to clear that up as I don't really cover that/explain it in the story :D**

**Answers to Reviews!**

**Ushindeshi: Yay, I'm so glad you love it! Hope I continue to please!**

**FTAnt: lol well the praise is justified, seriously you provided the best inspiration on how to wrap this story up :D Like I knew most of what I wanted to do, I just couldn't think of a good ending XD Huzzah, adventure! XD Aww thanks and less than 3 to you too!**

**Larissa: Thanks :D And as you noticed, it wasn't Dan's people, but good guess :D**


	3. Chapter 3

"What was that flash of light?! Was that an explosion?!" Lucy exclaimed. Jellal just shrugged and said "Probably, they are pretty much a daily occurrence at Fairy Tail." Lucy stared at him to see if he was joking, but his face remained unchanging so she decided that he must be serious. "How the heck is that considered normal?!" she practically yelled, causing Natsu to flinch and her to shoot him a I'm sorry look, before Jellal answered with a chuckle "You'll understand once you meet everyone. Come on, it isn't too much farther now."

Natsu and Lucy followed Jellal through Hargeon, a few people who recognized him calling out their hellos. They soon reached the Guild Hall, where even without entering they could hear the loud, boisterous inhabitants. But it wasn't the bad type of boisterous, in fact, contrary to what the explosion earlier would lead you to believe, the voices inside sounded happy and friendly. It reminded Lucy of the times before her mother died and even before her father had had to make the hard decision to marry her to someone she didn't know. It felt like coming home.

Natsu seemed to be thinking the same thing, though with his hearing he could actually pick up some of the conversations coming from within. Jellal let them both have a moment before he said "Come on, it's even better inside." They followed him through the doors and found he wasn't wrong. Natsu knew that if he were to stay here forever that he would never be lonely again and sure while it was a little loud for his ears, he could get used to this happy noise. Lucy found herself wishing this group of people lived closer to her, even without talking to them she knew they were destined to be good friends.

"Jellal!" called out a pretty, red-haired woman, who came and threw herself in his arms. "Erza, I missed you." Jellal said as he gave her a kiss on the lips. Lucy turned away to give them some privacy and was met with a girl with shortish blue hair. "Hi, I'm Levy, who are you?" "I'm Lucy and this is Natsu. We came to see Cana, is she here?" Levy nodded and said "Sure, follow me." The two did as the girl said, following her weaving path as they left Jellal and Erza to reconnect. She soon stopped in front of a brown-haired girl. "Cana, this is Lucy and Natsu, they came here looking for you."

Cana looked at them, slightly confused as she asked "Do I know you?" Lucy shook her head, as Levy walked off somewhere, and said "No, but I know your dad, Gildarts. He said you might be able to help me." Cana looked surprised to hear her father's name, but kindly asked "What kind of help?" "Well… is there some place a little more private we can talk?" Lucy asked. "Hey Makarov, can I use your office for a sec?" Cana yelled out across the room, drawing attention to the small group temporarily.

"Yes, but don't take too long. And don't go through my papers this time!" a short, older man yelled back. "Right!" Cana answered, though the twinkle in her eyes said she hadn't thought about the papers before and would now probably do so. She led Lucy and Natsu into the small room and said "So, what did my old man send you my way for?" "You know how your dad works for the king of Fiore right?" Lucy asked and Cana nodded, so Lucy continued "Several days ago the kingdom was taken over by Phantom Realm. I was out of the castle and while I managed to sneak back in and out, Gildarts sent me back out to keep me from being forced into a marriage to Jose."

"Wait, you're Princess Lucy!?" Cana exclaimed, Lucy nodding as she answered "Yes." "How the heck weren't you in the castle? I remember when we were kids and I wanted you to join me outside but my dad said you weren't allowed outside without a guard. Unless this Natsu guy is your guard?" Cana rambled. Lucy chuckled and said "I have my ways of getting out of the castle when I want. Natsu was injured by the Phantom Realm's men, though we didn't know it at the time, and I was tending to him when the castle was attacked. Natsu helped me to get here safely."

Cana nodded and said "Okay. Let me get Master Makarov in here." She exited the room as Lucy sighed in relief, though her face showed she was still worried, so Natsu asked "What's wrong Lucy?" "What if Makarov doesn't want to help? This was the only lead I had for help, I don't know what to do next!" Natsu pulled her into a hug and said "Hey the other kingdoms will help once they know that Phantom Realm is behind this and you've got me."

Lucy smiled at him, though it fell away as she said "But you've already done so much for me! I can't ask you to do more." "Who says you're asking? I'm offering. You've given me a great gift with this scarf Lucy, I don't know if I could ever repay you." Natsu replied. Before Lucy could answer, Makarov and Cana walked back through the door. "So Cana tells me you need some help. What can Fairy Tail do for you?" Makarov asked once the door was closed and he was seated at his desk.

Lucy told him everything she had told Cana and then fell silent as Makarov rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Finally he said "Fairy Tail will be glad to help you, princess, however it will take some time to call back all of our members who are on missions. Phantom Realm is a strong kingdom, we'll need everyone's help." "You'll help?!" Lucy asked, hardly daring to believe her ears as her voice and eyes filled with grateful tears and she continued "Oh thank you!" "Not a problem child." He answered endearingly.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the guild." Cana said. "Okay, but just call me Lucy please. I like it that no one knows me by my title here. People can get so stuffy when they know you are a princess." Cana smiled and said "Ok. Come on Lucy, Natsu." "I'm going to contact a few of the other guilds and see if they are able and willing to help as well as get Magnolia's permission to go. But even if they say no, we'll still help." Makarov said. Lucy and Natsu said goodbye to him as they followed Cana into the main area again. "Everyone, this is Natsu and Lucy. They're going to be hanging around awhile. Natsu and Lucy, this is everyone."

Many hellos were shouted up and someone named Gray challenged Natsu to a fight, which he eagerly took him up on. Lucy was worried about Natsu hurting this Gray or vice versa, but Gray turned out to be someone who used some kind of ice magic, so she felt that neither he nor Natsu were going to kill the other. She started talking more to Levy and she found her to be a bookworm just like her. They were just getting into a good discussion about some of their personal favorites when Erza walked up to Mira with a piece of paper.

"Mira, Jellal and I are going to take this one." She said and Mira was about to let her go, when Makarov said "No." This also got all of the other Fairy Tail members' attention, causing Gray to stop mid fight, which Natsu allowed this time due to the importance of the subject he knew was to come. "No? Why not Gramps?" asked Gray, "Jellal is a member now and it's never been a problem for him to go with us on missions before he was anyway, what gives?" "This has nothing to do with Jellal. No one will be going out on jobs for a while, we have been asked to help out the kingdom of Fiore. They have been taken over by the Phantom Realm." Makarov answered.

At this announcement, everyone started murmuring amongst themselves, for everyone had heard of the kingdom known as Phantom Realm and their atrocities. In fact, two of Fairy Tail's own members used to belong to that kingdom before they, in their words, got smart. They, more than the others, knew what the Phantom Realm was capable of. "We will need every member when we go to help, so until we have done so, no one is to take jobs that will lead them out of Hargeon or at least not that will take more than a day to complete. Sabertooth and a few other guilds will also be joining us so we must prepare to host them." "Hargeon is not going to survive this." Macao muttered.

The fight between him and Natsu forgotten, Gray moved off from Natsu to talk to someone about this news, as did Levy from Lucy. The two friends soon found themselves standing next to a young blue haired girl and black haired man. "Hi, I'm Wendy and this is Gajeel." The girl introduced herself and her companion. After saying hello back, Lucy asked "So what kind of magic do you two do, if you don't mind my asking?" "Dragon Slayer Magic." Lucy and Natsu eyes widened and flew to each other before Natsu chuckled nervously and asked "You don't actually slay dragons do you? I mean that's just the title right?"

"Of course we do." Gajeel said with a snicker, earning a swat from Wendy before she replied "No, we haven't actually killed any dragons, though we have enough power to supposedly do so. But neither of us have ever even met a dragon and really it would depend on how friendly they were as to if we would actually slay it." Lucy sighed a soft sound of relief, one she didn't know the two dragon slayers heard. They were curious as to why she would do so, but refrained from asking since it was so slight of a sigh that they would have to explain how they heard it.

Until they knew more about Lucy and Natsu, they wouldn't reveal everything about themselves, as is only wise. Natsu, however, did pick up on their hearing Lucy, catching their slightly surprised movements, but also refrained from saying anything, though he made a mental note of it, planning to make sure to get Lucy out of hearing range of the two so he could tell her to not talk about anything she didn't want overheard or his secret. It was nice not having humans be afraid of him, after all, and he really didn't want to see how well this Dragon Slayer magic worked.

After a few more minutes of mingling with the guild members, Natsu could tell Lucy was overwhelmed and so he said "Hey let's take a stroll around Hargeon and see what the town is like." Lucy smiled gratefully at him and she excused themselves from the two dragon slayers before following Natsu out of the guild. Once they were far enough away where Natsu couldn't hear any of the members, nor smell them he informed Lucy about Gajeel and Wendy. Lucy nodded and said "Okay, I'll be careful. So how are you liking the scarf Natsu?"

Natsu grinned and said "It's amazing! I mean I miss certain things like always having my wings handy, but it is nice getting to know people without them screaming their heads off." Lucy chuckled and said "I'll bet." They had found themselves on the beach at this point and Lucy stared off into the ocean for a while before turning back to Natsu, a worried look on her face as she asked "Do you think we'll reach my dad in time?" "I know we will. In fact, I promise we will." Natsu said. Lucy, tears streaming down her face, tried to laugh before saying "I'm holding you to that." Natsu pulled her into his arms and let her have a good cry.

XXX

After Lucy had cried for a while, Natsu having settled them in the sand once some time had passed, she pulled back a little as she wiped her eyes and said "Sorry about that." Natsu shook his head and said "Don't be, you're under a lot of stress right now, you needed a good cry." Lucy sighed and smiled her thanks for his understanding, before saying more to herself then anyone "I wish we could go for a flight, it was so peaceful up there." Natsu perked up and said "Why not? There is still plenty of daylight to get us a good distance out of the city, by the time we find a good spot it will be dark enough for me to take off."

Lucy looked at him eagerly as she asked "Really!? That would be amazing!" "Of course, come on, let's go!" Natsu exclaimed as he jumped up from the sand, lowering a hand to help her up. The two headed to the edge of town, not noticing they had picked up two Fairy Tail members, so lost in their plan and each other's company were they. Gray and Erza had seen the pair and worried about them going out of the city so late in the day. They weren't able to get within calling distance, however, so they had to be satisfied with just keeping an eye on them.

As the sunset deepened, Gray said "Where the heck are they going? If they're not careful they'll be stuck wandering around out here in the dark!" Erza just shrugged and said "Perhaps they have a light with them? Lucy is carrying her bag still." "Hey we didn't even get them sleeping arrangements!" Gray remembered all of a sudden. "That's half right, I was going to tell Lucy that Levy had offered to let her stay with her and that's when I realized they were missing."

"Is that why you had me join you?" Gray asked. Erza nodded as she kept her eye on the pair in front of them, who were highlighted by the last bits of sun as she saw them moving off the trail. "Now why would they do that?" Erza asked aloud, forgetting for a moment that Gray was with her. "Huh?" Gray asked as he turned his attention back to the pair, or rather tried to. He saw that they were no longer in sight and so he added "Where did they go?"

"They moved off trail just a moment ago. Come on, maybe they planned on camping out tonight. We can find out and then head back to the guild." Erza answered, picking up the pace a little as she fought to get to the tree line before they were lost from sight for good. She was barely in time to see Natsu pulling Lucy through the trees. "This way Gray!" Erza softly exclaimed, leading the charge through the woods. After a moment she slowed enough so Gray could catch up with her, she didn't want to go looking for him after she found Natsu and Lucy.

He wasn't far behind her to begin with, so they were only slowed for a moment or two, but in that time they completely lost sight of Natsu and Lucy. They slowed to a walk and then to a standstill, listening for any sounds. Soon Erza picked up on some voices and led Gray towards them. Pushing through some bushes, they found themselves in a clearing. In the clearing was Lucy, but instead of Natsu being with her, there was a red dragon!

XXX

"Lucy look out!" shouted Erza as Gray got ready to throw an ice lance at the dragon. "Wait, stop!" Lucy exclaimed, standing between the dragon and them, surprising the pair, "He won't hurt you!" "How do you know that?!" Gray asked. "Because, I'm Natsu!" the dragon spoke up. Shock was on both of the Fairy Tail members' faces as Lucy looked to Natsu and said "I'm sorry Natsu, if I hadn't suggested a flight they wouldn't have found out your secret."

Natsu shrugged and said "It probably would have happened sooner or later. Can you hand me my scarf?" Lucy did as he asked, wrapping it around his neck for him. Gray and Erza watched in awe as Natsu transformed before their eyes from the red dragon to the familiar pink haired boy. "How did you do that?" asked Erza. "I found a spell that could allow him to become human so long as he wore an item, the scarf being the item. When he takes it off, he returns to his dragon state." Lucy explained it simply.

"Why didn't you tell us you were a dragon?" asked Gray, to which Natsu responded "Oh yeah, that is totally a normal thing to bring into a conversation, 'Hey, I'm a dragon by the way.'" "You've got a point." Gray said begrudgingly as Erza asked "Still why keep it a secret? I mean having you on our side against the Phantom Realm would be an immense moral boost!" Natsu rubbed the back of his head "Usually people just expect the worst when they see or even hear the word dragon. Besides Lucy, none of my interactions with humans have really been that great, you guys were all ready to attack me without a word."

Erza and Gray both looked somewhat ashamed before Gray asked "So what do you want us to do about your secret?" "Keep it, please. For once I can be among humans without them screaming or trying to kill me. After my dad went missing I had no one to talk to until I met Lucy, it has been nice being able to not worry about scaring anyone just by saying hello or looking at them." Gray and Erza shared a look and a nod, before Erza said "Okay, we'll keep your secret." Natsu's grin was wide as he said "Thank you! Now, how would you like to join Lucy on a ride?"

"Ride? On you?" asked Gray. Natsu handed Lucy his scarf as he said "Sure, why not?" 'It is a lot of fun." Lucy said, "That's how I made it here from Fiore so fast." Natsu had completely changed back into his dragon form by this point and he said "Come on, climb aboard." Lucy climbed up and held out her hand, Erza being the first of the Fairy Tail mages to take it. Erza then pulled Gray up behind her and once he was settled Natsu said "Hang on!"

Much like Lucy had done at first, Gray and Erza held on tight and squeezed their eyes shut. They opened theirs faster than she had, however, for they were encouraged by the sounds of pure joy coming from Lucy. Opening their eyes they were amazed at the sights. Hargeon was lit up, not only by the street lights, but by the light of the moon above, the many stars in the sky twinkling in the night sky added to the feelings of amazement and awe. Natsu flew around for a good hour before landing closer to Hargeon then from where they had started, Lucy slipping the scarf on around his neck for him after they had all climbed off his back.

Once he was back in human form, they started walking towards the town, Erza filling Lucy in on Levy's offer. "And you can stay with me Natsu. It's not ideal, but there will be less of a chance of someone finding out your secret this way." Gray said. Lucy was a little nervous about being split up from Natsu, but she felt she hid it well as she said "That will be fun, Levy has quite the book collection I hear." Natsu groaned as he said "You're right, it's not ideal, but it will be for the best."

Erza stopped, just as the gates were coming into view and turned to Natsu and said "If you're worried about Wendy and Gajeel, they won't hurt you, we would vouch for you." "I will admit, their magic does make me nervous, but I'm also just not ready to have to deal with all the questions or potential fallout. I want people to get to know me before I tell them about that side of me." Natsu replied. "Then there is something else you should know. Another of our members, Laxus, is also a Dragon Slayer and two of the guilds we invited have some as well. They are Rogue, Sting and Eric. Just letting you know so that you can be careful around them." Gray stated.

Erza nodded, "Yes, Laxus, Wendy and Gajeel would all be fine with you I'm sure, but I don't know the other three well enough to know how they would react." She looked at Natsu before continuing, "You must be very cautious Natsu, they may be itching to prove they are true Dragon Slayers."

**A BIG thank you to all who have faved and followed this story! It means a lot to me :D**

**Answers to Reviews!**

**Ushindeshi: I'm so glad you loved it! I'm also glad you liked the scarf idea, it's one of my favorite bits about this story :D**

**C20: Aww you made me so happy with your review! I'm so glad you love this story! Don't worry, this story is completely written, I just upload a new chapter of it every Mon, Wed and Fri to make it last while I write my next one XD**

**FTAnt: Glad you loved it :D lol actually it was just because pink and blue are kind of opposites that I did it, but I like your idea better so I'll say yes, it was because of Happy XD Aww thanks and your welcome :D Big hug to you too!**

**FairyTail IsLife: Good to see you again! I was hoping you would come along :D lol perhaps it's a little obvious to some, though I hope not all and who knows, the ending might surprise you :D I wish I could take credit for the title, FTAnt basically came up with it for me (my working title was Dragon Tail because I couldn't think of a name but needed to be able to find it in my files XD) lol as this chapter probably made obvious, Natsu is the only dragon out of the slayers, I wanted to play around with that a bit XD Also re your review on the other story, I'm so glad I reconnected you with the song :D I've been trying to find that Tsunami story you mentioned, do you remember who the author was?**

**FireShifter: Glad you are liking it :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Erza and Gray's warnings had made the separation that was to come even harder for Lucy and Natsu. She was worried about him and he was worried about her because he knew she was still bothered by everything that had happened back in Fiore. Not to mention the fact that Natsu had become a sort of security blanket for Lucy, her bit of comfort since if she woke in the middle of the night from a nightmare she could still see that someone she cared about was still around. When he was in his dragon form, which he often was when he slept, if he noticed she woke up, he would cover her even tighter with his wing, enveloping her in a cocoon of safety.

Tonight, however, she would have to sleep without him and his warm, protective nature. Gray suddenly stopped and said "Looks like Levy is home already." The other pairs of eyes looked the direction he was and, sure enough, there were several lights on inside of the house. "I'll go with Lucy just in case. Goodnight Gray, Natsu." Erza said before heading off towards the house. Lucy looked at Natsu and he could almost read the panic in her eyes over separating. Perhaps they should just continue camping out, he would suggest it tomorrow though, perhaps she would sleep better in a warm, soft bed than the cold, hard ground or his scales.

Gray must have seen the panicked look too, for he comfortingly said "If you need either me or Natsu during the night, my house is right over there." He pointed at a house two down and across the street from Levy. Both Natsu and Lucy looked at each other in relief. She knew with his dragon senses he would know if she needed him. "Okay. Night Natsu, night Gray." Then Lucy hurried off to catch up with Erza, though not without a few backwards glances at the two of them.

"I heard Gray tell you where he lives. If you need someone, but don't necessarily want to go to a guy and Levy either isn't around or can't help, I'm on the same side of the street as you and across from Gray's house." Erza informed her. Lucy smiled and said "Thank you Erza." as the red head knocked on the door to Levy's house. Levy opened it a second later and once she saw who it was she said "Erza, Lucy! I was wondering if you were going to take me up on my offer." Lucy smiled at Levy and said "Thank you so much for inviting me to stay with you."

Levy waved a hand and said "Not a problem." Lucy looked around and her eyes practically lit up as she saw almost every wall was covered with bookshelves, filled to the brim with books. Levy noticed and she said "If you see something you like, feel free to take it to read." Lucy hugged her and said "Thank you!" Erza chuckled and said "I see you two are fast friends. Well, I'm going to head home, we're going to have a lot of planning to do tomorrow." "Why don't you stay Erza? We could have a sleepover!" Levy invited. Erza beamed and said "That would be amazing, I'll go grab a few things."

She headed out the door and Levy chuckled, explaining to Lucy "A 'few things' to Erza is a couple suitcases at least, come on, we can make sleepover snacks while we wait for her." Lucy looked down shyly and said "I've never had or been to a sleepover before, what kind of snacks does it require? For that matter what does a sleepover involve?" Levy looked surprised, but answered "Oh well, anything you like really. For me I usually make popcorn and other such foods. As for what it involves, eating, talking, laughing, sometimes dares, pretty much anything but sleeping."

Lucy smiled and said "It sounds like a lot of fun!" "Come on, I'll show you what snacks we can make and you can help me make them. Maybe Erza will be back when we are done." Erza in fact had impeccable timing, arriving just as the last of the snacks had been created. Much laughter was spilled, as were snacks and beverages, between the three girls. Lucy had never had a better time in her life. Finally she started a conversation line with "So I know Erza and Jellal are together, but is there anyone special in your life Levy?"

Levy blushed and shyly looked down as she said "Well Erza knows I have a crush on this one guy, but he always treats me like some kid sister or something." "Oooohhh who is it?" Lucy asked. "Gajeel, I'm not sure if you met him or not." Levy answered. Lucy gave a soft intake of breath, which Levy misinterpreted for she quickly said "I know what you're thinking, what can you see in a guy like him? To be honest I don't know, we didn't even get along when he first joined Fairy Tail." Levy let her head sink in despair, but before Lucy could comfort her, she recovered.

"What about you Lucy? Is there someone special in your life? Like maybe Natsu?" Levy returned Lucy's question to her, and Erza made the mistake of snorting as she took a drink. Soda streamed out of her nose for a second, startling the other two girls before all three laughed. When they finally had control of themselves, Levy wiped a tear from her eye as she said "Yeah I guess that was a weird thought, but seriously is there someone in your life?"

Lucy gulped, looking down and she whispered, "No, not really, though I am essentially engaged." Levy and Erza shared a look of surprise, before Erza asked "How is that possible when you don't have someone special in your life?" "I am betrothed." Lucy answered, still not looking up. "And your family didn't make sure it was someone you liked?!" Levy questioned. Lucy looked up than and they saw the tears in her eyes as she said "There is no other choice."

Levy and Erza shared another look as Lucy covered her eyes with her hands, slight sobs coming from her as she continued "All I wanted was to be lucky like my parents and marry someone I love." "Then what happened? I mean if they weren't in an arranged marriage, why are you?" asked Erza gently, as both her and Levy moved to opposite sides of Lucy to comfort her. "If I tell you, you have to swear not to talk about it with anyone. Only Natsu, Cana and Master Makarov know." Lucy said, trying to control her tears. Levy said "Of course we won't, please tell us what is wrong."

Lucy took a steadying breath, though her tears still ran down her face and there was a hitch in her breath as she said "I'm the princess of Fiore. I'm an only child and my father's health has been declining recently. He is worried about what will happen to me when he dies, so he has arranged a marriage between me and Dan Straight." "That womanizer!?" Erza exclaimed, pulling back for a second in shock. Lucy nodded and said "Dan's father was the only one who had a son that was young enough who was also willing to do so." "I'm sorry Lu." Levy said, giving her new friend a side hug.

Lucy hiccupped, then she gave a giggle that was full of tears as she sadly said "You know, someone like Natsu really wouldn't be so bad, I'd marry him over Dan any day." If Erza had had more to drink she probably would have spat it out of her mouth in spit take style, but Levy simply said "I don't blame you there. Hey, maybe while we're getting ready to go help your kingdom you'll find someone you do love, or does he have to be a prince?" Lucy just shook her head and said "No, dad doesn't care about title really, he's just worried he won't have time to teach whoever I marry before he well… his health isn't good like I said."

The two girls got what she meant and they couldn't believe just how much their poor friend had on her shoulders. Marriage, a kingdom to protect and save, a father whose health wasn't the best and worst of all was that the marriage wasn't one of love. True, arranged marriages could work out for the parties involved, but there was no guarantee. Not to long later, the three climbed into Levy's bed, Lucy being sandwiched in the middle of her two new friends.

None noticed the pink haired man who looked through the window, for they were all asleep at this point, nor did any of them catch him on his many return visits throughout the night. Natsu wanted to be sure his friend was safe and happy, to be there if she needed him even if it meant entering this practically stranger's home.

XXX

Days flew by at the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Lucy and Natsu becoming fast friends with everyone, though Natsu would be sort of reserved around Gajeel, Wendy and Laxus. Natsu got to show off his fire power though, everyone thinking it was his own unique brand of magic. Master Makarov found Lucy to be a quick study when it came to magic, after she told him how she had learned many of the spells in the books Gildarts had given her for safeguarding, books which he kept in his office for her and would remain there until Fiore was free.

So he decided to teach her Celestial magic, giving her several keys that his guild members had received as rewards over the years. He had planned on giving them to Yukino of Sabertooth many times, but something always held him back. Now he felt he knew why. Lucy was just as quick at learning how to use the keys, though her magic drained a little too fast for her taste.

Upon hearing what Lucy was learning and what she felt was her problem, Natsu gave her the gift of a necklace, which had one of his smaller scales as a pendant. "The scales will still hold their magic, at least for a time, even after falling off and turning white. You can use it in case of an emergency or just to help you further your own skills. But remember, its magic powers are finite, they will run out at some point." Natsu told her as he put it around her neck. Lucy smiled and said, "Thank you Natsu! How do I use it's magic?" "When you need it or want to use it, it will know. Until then, everything will be on you."

Lucy nodded and said "Right. I think I will save it for another time than. I want to get stronger on my own, well I mean I don't mind help in the form of fighting, but I don't want to fool myself with false strength and only learn my true limitations in the middle of a real battle." Natsu smiled his famous toothy grin and said "Sounds like a smart plan." "Will you help me practice Natsu? I could use Aquarius against your fire attacks." Natsu gulped, remembering the scary looking fish lady that rivaled Erza for keeping him and Gray in line when they got out of hand, or at least in the red head's opinion they were getting out of hand.

Lucy laughed and said "What, are you afraid of a little water?" Natsu chuckled nervously and said "'I'll make a deal with you, I'll help you practice so long as you don't call her out." Lucy laughed and said "Chicken! But I understand and agree to your terms." Natsu laughed than grabbed her by her wrist and said "Come on then." He led her to an open area where they spent the rest of the afternoon sparring, even long after her magic was drained she had him teaching her hand to hand combat, which he had been learning some more technical forms from Gray. Lucy was determined to do her best to help out in any way she could.

XXX

The first of the other guilds that would be joining them arrived the next day. Sabertooth was elated to find out they had beat everyone, or at least their master, Sting, was. The others just took it in stride. Natsu acted the same way around Sting and Rogue as he did Wendy, Gajeel and Laxus, which is to say friendly but cautious in as much as Natsu can be cautious. Nobody but Lucy, Erza and Gray really seemed to notice the difference in attitude anyway so they were thankful for that.

Natsu did not back down from any challenges to fights, however, so when Sting did so he accepted it cheerfully. Natsu found Sting to be a good sparring partner, but just as with all of his human opponents, he found himself needing to hold back a bit, sometimes his dragon side would try to aid him if he went full out on anyone. He had found that out when fighting against Elfman one day, thankfully he was able to play it off as a lucky hit which, with Gray's help, everyone bought.

After their match, Sting said "You're good, really good. If Fairy Tail hasn't snapped you up yet, you should consider joining us." Natsu smiled and said "Thanks for the offer, but I'm just here because of Lucy needing help getting here." "So why are you still around, no offense meant?" Rogue asked. Natsu grinned and said "Cause Lucy still is. At some point she'll want to go home and someone will need to take her." Sting and Rogue accepted this answer, which Natsu was grateful for. He had almost spilled the beans by saying something about helping Lucy's kingdom.

Lucy wouldn't have been happy with him and he wouldn't have blamed her, after all he was in the same boat as her. Hiding a part of himself so that he could be treated normally for once in his life. Sure a princess and a dragon were two totally different things, but that didn't mean they couldn't understand each other. "Natsu!" came Lucy's call through the crowd. Turning towards the sound of her voice he spotted her and noticed the anxious look on her face. Making his way to her he asked "What's wrong Lucy?" "Just feeling a little overwhelmed with all the new people, can we go for a walk? Maybe we can even get some training in."

Natsu nodded, leading her through the crowds and towards the city gates. He kept looking behind him, having become paranoid over someone possibly following them since Erza and Gray had. He also took many deep whiffs of the air, but it was hard to tell with so many new scents who was who and where they were. The pair didn't know it, but the Dragon Slayers were having a little meeting of their own at that moment.

XXX

"You guys are right, he may be another Dragon Slayer." Rogue said, as Sting nodded and added "Yeah, his attacks are similar to what we all use, just with fire and not to mention he was holding his own if not holding back." "The only thing that doesn't make sense about that is the way he reacted when we told him we were Dragon Slayers, it was like he had never heard of it." Wendy said. "Do I smell like metal to you guys? Like I've never noticed a scent of electricity when around Laxus, but whenever I'm near Natsu he always smells like smoke." Gajeel asked offhandedly.

"Now that you mention, I've noticed that too and I've never noticed those kind of smells with any of you or Cobra, though I'm not really sure what scents I should be smelling with, say, shadows, so maybe it's just that we are attaching the scent to him since smoke is easily relatable to fire?" Laxus half answered and half thought out loud. "I don't think so, but it's possible." said Wendy. "Where did Natsu go after your fight?" asked Gajeel. "Some blond girl called him and they headed out of town." Sting answered.

"Ah that would be Lucy, more than likely. She seems to get overwhelmed when meeting new people, they did a similar thing their first day here, from what I heard." Laxus stated. "Maybe we should follow them?" Rogue suggested as Gajeel was nodding his head to show that what Laxus said was true, though it was missed by his fellow Dragon Slayers. Thankfully for Natsu and Lucy, Erza was passing by them. "You'll do no such thing. Laxus is right that Lucy is overwhelmed, she needs to get away for a while to calm down. Natsu goes with her to protect her and I can guarantee that Natsu will take you all on if you try to disturb them. Lucy was raised in a very confining environment and large crowds make her nervous, let her relax for a little bit, there are a lot more guilds coming."

Wendy nodded sympathetically as the men agreed not to follow them. Erza was internally relieved, for while she didn't know for sure if Natsu and Lucy would be doing what they had done the night her and Gray followed them, she didn't want to chance the Dragon Slayers, especially those from Sabertooth, seeing them flying around.

XXX

It was a good thing Erza had stopped them, for Natsu did suggest to Lucy a flight to calm her down, a suggestion she readily accepted. They didn't wait for darkness to fall, Natsu felt the clearing was far enough away to be safe from Dragon Slayer noses and ears and no one else really traveled this direction, especially since news of Fiore's state had become well known in the area. No one wanted to go there at the moment so the path that would lead to it was only traversed by the few coming from towns that felt like they were too close to the danger brewing in Fiore, which had slowed to nearly nothing in recent days.

As they flew through the air, Lucy said "Thanks Natsu." "Why do crowds bother you so? Surely as a princess you have had to deal with your fair share of them." Natsu questioned. "Yeah, it's true I have, but I always see the people from a distance and I never learned any of their names, except maybe the occasional kid. When my father held court, before he got sick, the times I would join him he only had one or two peasants in the room with him at a time, both so he could focus on them and for safety reasons. Here everything is so wonderfully alive and vibrant but at times it can be… overwhelming."

Natsu frowned, though Lucy couldn't see it as he was facing forward, before he asked "But shouldn't so many people be a refreshing change? I mean all I ever had was my dad and I haven't found the crowds overwhelming at all." Lucy considered this before saying "Maybe it's because it was just you and your dad, until you left the cave you never really had to worry about being attacked. From a young age it was drilled into my head not to go anywhere, even within the palace, without a guard. Not that I always listened, but I guess the caution behind it has been engrained in me. I think my mind just starts looking for would be attackers without me really realizing it. It can wear you out, always looking out for danger but trying to be friendly and kind still. I know nobody from the guilds would purposely hurt me, but I can't seem to make my mind understand."

Natsu nodded and said "I think I get it now. It's survival instincts going at full throttle, right?" Lucy nodded, even though he couldn't see it, as she answered "Exactly, I mean in the castle I felt safe in my own room, but here, my mind goes there could be danger. Although thinking on it, at times since we have been here I almost feel like I'm being watched, though not in a bad way. It's more like I'm left feeling like I'm being protected. Once I feel like that at night, I go to sleep and stay asleep for the rest of it, rather than the continuous waking ups I've had until that point." She didn't notice Natsu chuckle nervously, luckily for the dragon's sake, but he was happy to hear that his clandestine night watches had soothed her.

**Answers to Reviews!**

**Ushindeshi: Thanks!**

**FTAnt: Aww thanks and less than 3 to you too! I'm glad you are enjoying this story :D**

**FireShifter: Or will they? Dun dun dun XD Yeah, I wanted to get the strongest team together in this story as fast as I could XD Glad you enjoyed the last chapter :D**

**FairyTail IsLife: lol yeah it's something that has happened to me and my brother countless times and I could just see Cana being one of those who would be like oh yeah there is that XD lol well I was in a hurry to reunite the gang, so to speak, but let's chalk it up to them being in shock/still processing it really XD One of my favorite things about being in a plane (which ironically does not make my fear of heights kick in…) is looking down and seeing everything from up above. I imagine it would look ten times more amazing from the back of a dragon, don't you? Gosh now I want to do it… someone find me a dragon! Lol well remember that this is an AU world so a lot of their background and feelings about things wouldn't exist, but you never know what will be still there ;) I would personally love to see more of Flare in the show, she is a favorite of mine, but I don't think I even brought her into this story… Or did I? lol I can't remember XD Erik is a fun character too and I feel like he gets forgotten about the most among the Dragon Slayers, when it comes to fanfic writers anyways. Or maybe I'm looking in the wrong spots? Also thanks so much for giving me the info on both the story and it's author. Don't worry, I will for sure be careful with any reviews I leave :D**


	5. Chapter 5

As they walked back to Hargeon after their flight, Lucy asked, "How are you doing, now that there are extra Dragon Slayers I mean? Do you think they will hurt you if they learn your secret?" Natsu frowned and said "They seem like alright guys to me, though I can't say for sure. There is still one more to meet too, so I would like to meet them all before I think about it too much. Still, I do feel extra tense when I'm around more than one of them. They keep sniffing at me, even if they don't really realize they are doing it or think that I haven't noticed."

"Sniffing? Oh you mean that's one of the heightened senses they have?" Lucy questioned. Natsu nodded, then put a finger to his lips. He could smell a small whiff of someone coming, the wind having blown it just right, but it had been too faint to identify who it was. Lucy didn't quite understand why Natsu was telling her to be quiet, but she followed his lead. Soon they saw Wendy coming over the hill and she waved at them when she spotted the pair. Natsu and Lucy waved back, picking up the pace to meet her sooner. "There you guys are. Sorry for intruding, but another guild has arrived and I thought you would like to be prepared to meet everyone." Wendy said as soon as she was close enough.

Natsu shot Lucy a look that clearly asked her if she was up to it. Lucy smiled at Wendy and asked "Do you think they would think me rude if I put off meeting them until tomorrow?" "Not at all." Wendy answered with a smile, "It's not like they are really expecting to meet you today anyways. And even if they were, I'm sure they would understand." Lucy gave Wendy a grateful smile of her own and said "Thanks for the heads up Wendy. I think I'll just head to Levy's and curl up with a good book."

Natsu, not quite wanting to be separated from Lucy just yet, asked "Do you think I could join you? That is if you don't mind reading out loud, it's been so long since I've been read to and I think you would be one of those readers who would really get into it." Lucy looked surprised at his request, but she still smiled and replied "Sure, I would love to read out loud. Wendy, would you like to join us?" "Can I?! I wouldn't want to intrude or anything, but I do love a good story too." Lucy laughed and said "Of course you can!"

The three talked about what kind of book they wanted to read as they walked and so when they arrived at Levy's, Lucy went to one of the bookshelves and plucked a couple off. On a whim she grabbed a rather old looking book, taking no notice of the title. Then she settled into the middle of the couch, Wendy on one side of her and Natsu on the other. "Okay here are our choices, The Maiden Fair, The Count of Nothing, Tunnel of Light, Keepers of the Night, and, let's see, ah here it is, The Dragon's Wish." Lucy knew immediately which one Natsu would want to have read to them, but he waited as Wendy looked them over.

"Hmm, they all sound good, but to be honest, I really am curious about The Dragon's Wish. I've heard of the others, but I've never heard of that one. Is it okay with you Natsu if Lucy reads it?" Wendy asked. Natsu tried to look all nonchalant as he said "I guess that's okay, any of them are fine with me." But Lucy didn't miss the excitement in his eyes as she slowly opened the cover of the old book. They all gasped at the magnificently detailed image of a dragon, one which Lucy could almost swear had moved.

Just then the front door opened and Levy, Erza and Gray walked in. "Hey Lu, there you are! What are you three doing?" Levy asked. "Lucy is just about to read to us, want to join us?" Wendy asked. Erza smiled broadly as she said "I can't remember the last time I was read to. Yes, I would love to join!" She settled into a chair as Levy sat on a cushion on the floor and Gray in another chair. Gray asked as he sat "What are you reading?" "The Dragon's Wish. I had never heard of it before nor had Wendy or Natsu." Lucy answered.

"Oh, I remember picking that up because I thought Gajeel might like it, but then I kept it to read it first. And then I got distracted by another book… please do start!" Levy requested. Lucy carefully held up the book so the other three could see the image of the dragon, each of them also giving a gasp of appreciation for the details in it. To Natsu, it almost looked like Igneel and he half wished they could leave it open as they read, but he knew it wasn't possible and since both Wendy and Levy didn't know his secret, he bit his tongue as Lucy turned the page and started reading.

Hours flew by as she told the story of the adventures of the dragon, all in an effort to have his wish come true. The book kept secret the dragon's wish, so no one knew what the dragon was looking for as the story progressed. No one noticed that Romeo, Jellal, Gajeel and Juvia had all joined them at different points, each of them getting wrapped up as deeply in the story too and not noticing when another new listener arrived. All of them had come looking for their friends and when they found the front door slightly opened and everyone just sitting their listening to Lucy, they had joined in.

Finally they reached the climatic point of the story, the dragon helping his human friends battle an evil wizard. The dragon succeed in doing so, but at the cost of his own life. His friends celebrated at first, before noticing their friend's life slipping away. They rushed to the dragon's side and cried, asking why it had to happen to him after everything he had done for them, helping them as he met them along the story's path. They thanked him for everything and asked what it was he had been looking for himself so they could continue to do so for him after he died. The dragon chuckled as he slowly said with his last few breaths, "It's alright. I got my wish, to help and be appreciated, that's all I ever wanted." With that, the dragon laid his head all the way down and closed his eyes.

The story ended with the dragon's body shimmering before fading away, leaving only a few scales for his friends to remember him by, which they all took one a piece. "As the years went by, many were the times that they would catch themselves in the moment, looking upon their long gone friend's scales and they were reminded to appreciate the people around them and to tell them that they were so." As Lucy closed the book, she held it to her chest, as she always did at the end of a good book. She was lost in her own thoughts, having forgotten she even had an audience and why she was reading out loud.

She was brought back to the present as the sounds of sniffles filled the room. Looking around, there wasn't a dry eye. Erza chose that moment to burst out bawling, exclaiming how beautiful it was. While most everyone's eyes were drawn to her, Lucy turned to face Natsu more. She could see how deeply the story had affected him, how if Erza hadn't burst out bawling and drawn the attention to her, he might have done so himself. As it was, he was struggling to bring his emotions under control, after all he told himself, big dragons don't cry.

But the dragon at the front of the book had looked like Igneel and when the dragon died… what if he never saw his dad again?! He was about to give in to his emotions, when he felt Lucy give his hand a squeeze, reminding him that, for now, he needed to keep it together. Only Gray and Erza might understand why he was doing so and he didn't want to explain himself to the others at this point. Luckily for him, Gajeel used that moment to open his big mouth, though it was all Natsu could do not to lunge at him.

"So the dumb flying lizards do have emotions, or at least in this story they do." Gajeel said, having wiped his tears away quickly. Lucy could feel Natsu tensing and she squeezed his hand once more as she asked "Of course they do, after all they are alive aren't they? And when did you get here Gajeel? I didn't even hear you come in." Gajeel shrugged, more considering her first question then her second, though he answered the second one with "A while ago, think he was picking up his second friend." Levy swatted him and said "And you said you don't like books." Gajeel rubbed the back of his neck and said "I just never heard one told that way before."

Jellal nodded and said "Lucy really got into it. Taking on different voices for each character and remembering which one went to which, adding motions here and there and her voice just moving along with the tone of the story… It was amazing!" Everyone nodded as Juvia asked "Where did you ever learn to tell stories like that Lucy?" Lucy smiled at a few of her fondest memories as she answered "My mother used to read books to me like that. I always loved it when she would. When she died, I started reading them out loud as a way of remembering her and keeping her close."

"I wish my mom had read to me like that. Stories are going to be very boring after this." Romeo shared his thoughts. "Will you read us another one?" asked Wendy. "Okay, but this one will have to be shorter and lighter, that ending was deep." Lucy agreed. She picked up The Count of Nothing and soon had all of her friends roaring in laughter, even Natsu. She could still feel the underlying sadness that had come over him, but at least she was giving him something to laugh about. And as soon as she could get him alone, she would talk to him about what was bothering him.

Nobody noticed through the tears in their eyes from laughing so hard, but Natsu had picked up The Dragon's Wish and would occasionally stop and stare at the picture of the dragon. "I will find you dad, I promise. I've just got to help Lucy first, after all she's helped me." He thought to himself as he looked down on the image of the dragon. Natsu soon noticed, by the sound of her voice more than her words, that Lucy was wrapping up The Count of Nothing, so he gently closed The Dragon's Wish and replaced it on the coffee table in front of him, though he longed to snatch it up and stare at the picture of the dragon some more.

"And thus the Count of Nothing was once again the Count of Nothing and he would have it no other way." Lucy said, closing the book as she wiped away a tear. "Thanks Lu, that was definitely needed." Lucy laughed softly and replied "You're welcome Levy, The Count of Nothing has always been a favorite of mine." Gray looked outside and said "Wow, its dark out! I wonder if Mira is still serving food now…" Everyone noticed their rather empty bellies just now, several growling in unison. Gajeel snickered and said "Guess we better get down there and scrounge something up. I'm sure, what with the other guilds arriving at random hours, that there is still food to be had!"

Natsu had perked up at the mention of food and he said "So what are we waiting for?! Let's go eat! Last one there is a dark guild member." With that he was out the door, followed closely by all of the guys. The girls just shook their heads and set about helping Levy straighten up. Lucy picked up The Dragon's Wish and set it on top of the other books as she walked towards the shelves. She had seen how Natsu had stared at the dragon and she wondered if that was part of what was making him feel down. "Hey Levy, where did you get The Dragon's Wish? I would like to get my own copy. I mean it was sad, but really good. And it would remind me of this time with all of you when I'm home."

Levy frowned, not really liking to think about Lucy not being around anymore, but answered "It was in this old bookstore that used to be by the pier. The man who was running it died a few months ago and his son sold the business off. Now it's a flower shop. I'm not sure where you could find another copy." Seeing the sad look that had briefly flashed on Lucy's face, Levy beamed and said "Why don't you just take my copy? It was good, but I have so many other books I love and I hardly have time for the new ones I keep getting. Besides now that Gajeel's heard it once he'll probably never read it himself." "Really?! But what can I give you for it?" Lucy asked.

Levy gave her a side hug since Lucy's arms were still full of books and answered "Hey that reading you gave for us today was a gift in itself, plus you're my friend so there is no reason for you to pay me for a gift." Lucy set the books that were in her hands carefully on the side table before reaching for Levy and giving her a full on hug. "Thank you Levy!" Erza came up just then and said "If you two are ready we should get there before the guys eat everything." "Right, I just need to put these away." Levy said and Lucy added "And I need to put this with my stuff and grab my bag."

Levy rushed to put the books away as Lucy ran to Levy's room, grabbing her bag off the floor and carefully putting the book inside it. Then she raced out to join the other girls, who were waiting for her by the door. As they headed to the guild, Erza asked "Are you ready for this Lucy? There are only two other guilds who aren't here yet and so it will be crowded there." Lucy gulped, but nodded and said "I am, or at least I think I am. If not, I'll just eat quickly and head back to Levy's." "Let me know and I'll go with you Lu. While Hargeon isn't known for its crime, there are some dirt bags out there still." Levy requested.

Lucy promised she would and they all entered the guild. Lucy grabbed Levy's arm in shock at the sheer number of people, she had never seen so many, accept during festivals, but they were more spread out even then. She felt briefly like the walls were closing in on her and she started to breathe a little heavily. But then she saw Natsu and she remembered that she needed to talk to him. With a goal in mind, she pushed off her panic attack, not easily but still she succeeded.

She followed the girls and they all ordered their food and, once Mira handed it to them, they all headed to the table Natsu and the others were sitting at. "So, who is the dark guild member?" Lucy asked as she sat down across from Natsu. Gray pointed at poor Jellal as Romeo asked "Wouldn't technically one of the girls be the dark guild member? They arrived here long after we did." "True, but we stayed to help Levy and Lucy pick up our mess of pillows and books." Juvia replied, "So we don't count." Jellal's face, which had momentarily beamed with hope, withered and he brought his forehead to rest on his arms so he was staring at the table once more.

Erza patted his back comfortingly as she moved to sit across from him with her own food, an action which caused him to raise his head and start talking animatedly with her. Lucy quickly ate her food and just as she was done, Natsu said "Do you want me to walk you home?" Lucy was feeling overcrowded again and so she nodded, smiling as she said "Yes please. See you later everyone." All of her new friends said goodbye as she and Natsu rose up from the table, taking care of their dishes before exiting the guild hall.

They chatted about everything and nothing, laughing and enjoying each other's company. As they arrived at Levy's house, Lucy turned to Natsu and said "Thanks for getting me out of there and for walking me home Natsu." Natsu gave her his famous grin and said "You're welcome Luce." "Oh, before I forget, I've got something for you." Natsu watched curiously as Lucy reached into the bag and pulled out a book. He was about to question her when he realized what book it was.

He looked at her with wide eyes as he asked "Is that really for me? For keeps?" Lucy laughed softly and said "Yes it's yours and yes it's for keeps. I hope that maybe tomorrow you can tell me what it is about it that caught your attention." "I can tell you right now. The dragon in the picture reminds me of Igneel, my dad." Lucy's eyes widened and said "I hope in a good way." Natsu chuckled at her slightly horrified expression, knowing she was worried she had given him a bad gift, as he said "Don't worry, it is in a good way. Thank you Luce"

Lucy smiled and said "Good, I'm glad and you're welcome. Well, I'm going to go get some rest now, this was a long day." "Okay Luce, goodnight!" "Goodnight Natsu." Later that night, after checking on Lucy several time, Natsu opened The Dragon's Wish to the image of the dragon. He fell asleep with his arms wrapped tightly around it, hoping and wishing that one day soon he could give Igneel the same hug.

**AN: So it was all thanks to FTAnt's suggestion of a name title for this story that we got this chapter at all. I now also really want books called A Dragon's Wish and The Count of Nothing to exist XD The way Lucy's mom read to her was inspired by how my mom used to read stories to me and my brother when we were little. I wonder if I can get her to read Inheritance (of the Inheritance Cycle) to me like that… I think I will save her voice and not request it XD**

**And seeing as how today is 9/11, I'm going to dedicate this chapter to all those affected by that day 18 years ago.**

**Answers to Reviews!**

**FTAnt: I'm so glad you loved the last chapter :D and aww thanks so much :D I can't wait for you all to read the next few chapters :D**

**FairyTail IsLife: Wow I feel honored that you are reading my stories since Nalu does seem to be what I revolve around. I won't make any promises about a Colu story, but it might be interesting to try maybe a one shot and get out of my comfort zone a little so we'll see :D lol whenever I would stay at my one friend's house I can't tell you how many times a night her dad would be like girls go to sleep XD But then when her parents switched bedrooms (they made the computer room their bedroom when laptops became a thing XD) and weren't across the hall from her room anymore we could pretty much get away with being loud XD We have moved away from there though, so I only get to see her like once a year or so now, but we have fun when we do get together XD I will totally listen to that song, is it by Regina Spektor? It was the only one that showed up when I looked up the name of it. Lol we'll have to see if your theory about Erik will be correct ;) Thanks for another awesome review :D**

**Ushindeshi: Thanks!**

**FireShifter: lol yep she was on point she was XD Yeah I love how protective he is of her in the anime/manga and while this is shorter so it will have to move faster, I wanted it to show through the whole story so I'm glad it's coming through :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Quick note, did you guys see the PS4 trailer for the Fairy Tail game they are doing?! Some places say its also going to be available to play on the Switch and PC, but not too sure how accurate that is. Says its coming out in 2020!**

The next morning, Lucy and Natsu were eating at the Guild Hall with their friends. Suddenly Gajeel burst through the door with Wendy in his arms, followed closely by Rouge and a guilty look Sting. Mira was the first to react as she motioned Gajeel over to a table as she asked "What happened?" "We were all testing out our strength against each other and Wendy got in between me an attack meant for Gajeel. I had turned my power up a bit, because I knew he could take it." Sting explained.

Gajeel laid Wendy down on the table, their infirmary was filled at the moment with out of town guest and therefore not really accessible to them, nor a good place to take care of the injured. Not that the table was any better, but it was closer. That was when they all realized that nobody in the Guild Hall knew what to do. Wendy couldn't heal herself when she was unconscious and Porlyusica had gone away on a supply run to stockpile medicine, etc for the battle with Phantom Realm. Sure they knew how to take care of minor injuries, but this was a bit past minor. Upon seeing the confusion and lack of anyone moving to do something, Lucy stood up and walked to Wendy's side.

She checked the major injury before saying "First, does anyone know of a place nearby where the waters have been blessed by the unicorns? While it won't really matter if we don't have any, it will help speed up the healing process. Natsu, I need you to go to the market and get the things I need that aren't in my bag for the paste, I know you know what is there and what is missing. Finally, all guys must leave while I attend to Wendy, as well as any woman who can't either stand looking at such injuries or seeing a friend hurt like this. Really I don't need much help, accept maybe Erza, so there is no reason for any of you to stay except for moral support. Now everyone, do as I just said!"

Nobody argued with her, leaving just her and Erza in the room, Natsu rushing off for the supplies while Freed went to locate the water Lucy had asked for. Both would hand over the supplies to Levy and Juvia, who brought them in and stayed to help Lucy, as Ezra closed off the curtains to keep anybody from looking in. "Where did you learn to heal people Lucy?" asked Juvia as Lucy mixed the same stuff for the paste she had used on Natsu. "My mother taught me a little. I don't know as much as Porlyusica I'm sure, but this is similar to Natsu's injuries when I met him and this worked for him so I hope it does for her too." "You're not sure?" asked Levy, "You seemed so confident about it."

"Well yeah, I mean would anyone have listened if I didn't act like I knew what I was doing?" Lucy questioned, to which the others had to agree she was right. Lucy quickly cleaned the injury with the unicorn blessed water and applied the paste, finishing by wrapping some bandages around the injuries to hold the paste to them. Then the four sat back to wait, much like those outside the Guild Hall were doing. Soon, Wendy's eyes fluttered open and Erza called her name excitedly, barely refraining from pulling the young girl into a hug. "What happened?" asked Wendy softly. "Sting said you got hit by one of his attacks meant for Gajeel." Juvia answered, "Lucy helped to patch you up a bit."

Wendy smiled her thanks to Lucy, before trying to sit up with a groan. Levy helped her do so and they all watched as she carefully undid the bandages holding the paste to her side. Upon seeing Lucy's handiwork, Wendy gave a sound of approval before starting to heal herself. By the time she was done, the injury was all gone. The other cuts and bruises were relatively minor compared to it, so she then turned to Lucy and said "Thank you Lucy for helping me." "Of course Wendy, I'm glad I could help." Lucy said with a smile. She had used up the last of her supplies she had brought with her from Fiore, but it was worth it.

XXX

By mid-day the next day, the rest of the guilds that had offered to lend their support had arrived. All of them had wanted to take a crack at the Phantom Realm for some time now, and having an official reason to do it finally gave them the right to do so. Lucy was overwhelmed with how many people there were, but this time she stuck it out, Natsu sticking close to her side to provider her the assurance that she would be safe no matter what. With the arrival of the remaining guilds, they finally got to meet Cobra, the last of the Dragon Slayers. Apparently, Jellal used to belong to his guild, Crime Sorcière, which was now run by the other remaining founding member, Meredy.

Juvia had greeted Meredy happily and provided the introductions between her and Lucy, Natsu arriving a moment later from where he was being introduced to a few other members and, after also being introduced to Meredy, started sticking even closer to Lucy then before. Little did Lucy know, but Natsu was finding comfort in her presence too. Cobra was a bit overwhelming, for the young dragon. Natsu had found out that Cobra could hear thoughts, though his girlfriend, Kinana, said she only let him do it in battle, Natsu wasn't too sure and felt worried he would do some sort of slip of the… well not tongue obviously, was mind a better word? … that would lead to everyone discovering his secret.

The only moment that sort of became tense was when another member of Crime Sorcière started picking on Natsu's scarf. "Why the heck are you wearing a scarf at this time of year?" the one called Sawyer nagged at him. Natsu just shrugged and said "Because I like it." He started walking away with Lucy by his side, when suddenly he was pulled up short by Sawyer grabbing the long end of the scarf, nearly pulling it from Natsu's neck.

To make sure it didn't come off, Natsu grabbed the part that remained partially wrapped around his neck, turning to glare at Sawyer as he demanded "What is your problem?" "Just admiring the craftsmanship, what strange material it's made of and so on." Sawyer said, giving a few more small tugs to try to remove the scarf the rest of the way from Natsu's neck. Natsu was worried that he was going to pull it free and Sawyer might have just succeed at that, but Jellal came along and said "Knock it off Sawyer." Sawyer held up his hands, dropping the scarf as he did so and said "Hey I was only teasing." Natsu and Lucy both barely held back sighs of relief as they put some distance between them and him while Natsu secured his scarf to his neck once more.

XXX

Natsu had another concern to think about thanks to the whole almost losing the scarf incident. Now that all the guilds were there, the gathered Dragon Slayers could easily take him out if they all worked together and Natsu wasn't sure he would get the chance to explain that he meant them no harm. Wendy for sure wouldn't attack him, maybe Gajeel as well, but after that, Natsu just wasn't sure and so he stuck around Lucy, who kept him distracted from those dangerous thoughts. As night settled, the masters of all of the guilds present came out of the room where they had been formulating a plan. A hush fell over the room as Makarov jumped on the banister of the second floor, the other masters gathered behind him.

"Listen up you brats, this is how it's going to go. Fairy Tail, along with Lucy and Natsu, will go on ahead by a day. Lucy knows the area best and will be able to help us scout out locations for our attack. By the time we have figured out the best strategic points, the rest of you will have hopefully arrived. After that, we shall do our best to save the King of Fiore and his people." Cheers went up from everyone as Lucy thought to herself, "Hold on dad, we're coming."

XXX

Days had passed since they had left the guild hall, leaving only a few behind to care for their guest as best as possible. The Fairy Tail members didn't let the seriousness of the mission get them down, they laughed and sung all the way to the edge of Magnolia's border. Once they reached it, however, they took a more cautious approach to this adventure, not knowing how far Jose's men may have ventured into Fiore as well as the fact that there were a few places where Phantom Realm's own borders were quite close to their location. The closer they got to her home, the more worried Lucy began to feel for those that had been left behind when she ran to Magnolia with Natsu. A worry that got more compounded as they came across whole villages empty of it citizens.

Had they run somewhere for cover? Were they safe somewhere else like Magnolia? Or had Jose had them captured and taken back to Phantom Realm?! These thoughts and more ran through Lucy's head as she worried about her people. Those who didn't know her secret kept giving her concerned looks, ones she missed, so lost in her thoughts was she. Finally they arrived at the point that Lucy deemed was as close to the castle they could as a whole get, at least without being spotted. Lucy wished she could use the secret passageways to go check on Gildarts for Cana, but she had no idea if they would have kept him in the same place or moved him to the dungeons or something.

Besides, the secret passageways were one of the ways they planned on getting into the castle, so she couldn't jeopardize them by going on such a mission. After setting up camp, Makarov sent them off to scout in pairs, Lucy and Natsu getting sent to the area near where they had stayed in the old mineshaft as well as being the furthest from their current location. Everyone cautiously left to go scout out the areas they had been assigned, wishing each other luck as they did so.

Natsu and Lucy gave the castle a wide berth, deciding to first stop at the old mine shaft where their journey had begun. "Hard to believe that not too long ago we were here." Lucy said, crouching to pick up a small, stray scale, for no reason in particular as she was lost in the memories. Natsu chuckled and replied "That's for sure. It seems like this form has been with me so long, but at the same time not because of this as well."

After a few more minutes, Natsu turned to the mouth of the cave and said "Come on Luce, let's go. The others are counting on us to scout this area." "Right." Lucy said, determination on her face. Determination that a few moments later was replaced with surprise and a hint of fear as laughter, followed by a voice came to them from the darkness saying "Ah so the princess has finally returned to her groom has she?"

Natsu pushed Lucy behind him as none other than Jose appeared in the mouth of the cave. Natsu growled lowly, hand on his scarf. He didn't immediately remove it, however, as he wanted to see how this played out a bit first. Perhaps they could get away without him having to reveal that he was a dragon. "Come my dear, my patience has worn thin these past few weeks. Let us go to the castle where your father is waiting for us to be wed." Jose said as he held out his hand, ignoring Natsu entirely.

That is, until Natsu declared "Lucy isn't going anywhere with you!" Jose looked surprised for a minute, before genuine, though evil, laughter poured from his lips, after which he replied "She doesn't have a choice. Not if she wants her father and her people to be safe." Lucy straightened her shoulders, pushing them back slightly to appear taller as she said with authority "You wouldn't dare harm them. If you do, I will not only not marry you, but I will make you relive every single bit of pain you inflict upon them." Natsu was impressed with her statement, Jose however, was not.

He glared at the princess, before a cunning look came into his eyes and he spat back "Oh wouldn't I?! For every day you refuse to be with me, I will inflict some sort of pain on one of your people. It will start off with something small, like a paper cut. But for each day you are not with me, the pain I cause will increase until we reach the point where we just have to start killing people and you wouldn't want that, now would you my dear?"

Natsu had had enough of Jose already and that threat was the final straw. He lunged at the man, who simply blasted him out of the cave. "Natsu!" Lucy yelled, trying to rush to her friend's aid. But there was nothing left of him, but his scarf. She picked it up, wrapping it around herself as tears fell from her eyes for her friend, for surely he would have returned in his dragon form by now if he was okay. Lucy slumped her shoulders in defeat. "Okay. I'll go with you, but I will not marry you until we have my father's blessing." Lucy said, tears streaming down her face as her back was turned towards Jose. Also hidden from his view, thanks to Natsu's scarf, was the necklace with a scale of his in it. Jose wouldn't know what hit him when she was ready to use it.

He smirked, thinking he had won, but little did he know that Lucy was putting on a little bit of an act, already plotting her revenge for what he had done to Natsu, not only this time, but back before she had met him. "That's more like it. As for your father's blessing, I'm sure that can be arranged, though it will take some time. Currently he is playing a game of chess." Lucy turned to him with a look of confusion as he laughed after speaking, apparently at some personal or at least inside joke that she wasn't privy to.

XXX

Natsu groaned as his eyes opened, the world seeming a bit smaller then when he had closed them. After a second his memories came flooding back to him. Lucy! He looked swiftly in the cave and the clearing around it, sniffing for her scent only to realize as he was doing so the he was in his dragon form! And what's worse, his scarf seemed to have gone missing along with Lucy. That's when another memory hit him. After he had been blasted from the cave, his scarf no longer on him and he was finding it odd that he wasn't changing into his dragon form, he vaguely remembered hearing Lucy promise to go with Jose.

He groaned, Lucy was in Jose's clutches, enduring who knows what, all because he had failed to protect her. He had to let the guild know! But… he was in his dragon form now… Yeah, Gray and Erza had seen him in it, but the others hadn't and even if Gray and Erza were able to keep them from attacking, and he wasn't sure they could stop Gajeel, would they believe him? Or would they think he had kidnapped Lucy for himself, after all dragons liked to steal things, especially princesses if you went by old fairy tales. Stupid humans and their need to make up lies about dragons.

Resolve filled his eyes. He would go the guild and get their help, no matter what it cost him. He had to help Lucy!

XXX

Minutes later he spotted the place where the guild had made camp, but something else he saw made him groan out loud. The other guilds had arrived, how long had he been out for? Was Lucy still okay? Natsu pushed these thoughts out of his mind and dove for the guilds' camp, trying to call for help as he did so. Only instead of words, just some growls and a roar came out. His eyes widened, his voice was gone! That blast Jose had shot at him… It had hit him square in the throat, he was lucky that he still could even roar. Just how was he going to let the others know about Lucy's predicament now?

It was too late to back out now, almost all of the guild members had come to where they could at least see him, many stepping back as he landed in the midst of the camp. He could smell and sense Gajeel, Laxus, Wendy, Rogue, Sting and Erik all closing in on him, though on Wendy he could smell a strong scent of fear and he wished he could offer her words of comfort. He tried to look un-menacing, but that's hard to do when you are a dragon and can only speak in growls and roars, though the occasional whimper he gave was causing Wendy to second guess this.

But the other Dragon Slayers were all sure that this was one of Jose's creatures, Erik thinking it a mindless beast didn't even try to listen to Natsu's thoughts. Slowly they circled him, Natsu trying to curl himself into as small of a ball as possible to look non-threatening. The Dragon Slayers, however, felt like he was trying to prepare to pounce and hurried to get into positon. Natsu could hear the running footsteps of a few more of the guild members, but he kept his focus on as many of the Dragon Slayers as he could. How was he going to make them understand that he just needed their help to save Lucy or that it was him and he wouldn't hurt them?!

Looking at them he could tell that any minute now they would be in the position they wanted to be and while he could just fly out of there or straight up attack them he wasn't sure exactly how their Slayer magic worked so he stuck with trying to look small and meek, though that was not coming across very well. Desperately he looked in Wendy's direction, but her focus was on the other Dragon Slayers and not him. Still he could sense the hesitance in her and so he thought her his best bet for getting out of there alive. He started to move towards her, not realizing that the other Dragon Slayers thought he was going for the weakest link and so prepared to protect Wendy at all cost.

**AN: Wahahahaha cliff hanger! Sorry XD Also a fun fact, the part where Lucy helps heal Wendy was added after I uploaded the 3****rd**** chapter because it bothered me that I hadn't covered Lucy's healing knowledge since her and Natsu had arrived at Fairy Tail, so I went back and added that whole section which allowed me to feel okay with making this cliff hanger XD originally it had a few different paragraphs, which got moved to the start of the next chapter. Everything after Erik not even bothering to try to listen for Natsu's thoughts was added after that. So you're welcome xD See you on Monday :D**

**Answers to Reviews!**

**Ushindeshi: ahh writing that killed me to be honest! I hate endings to books (or anything really XD) like that in real life so I'm not really sure why I went with that to be honest. But at the same time I felt it was kind of beautiful… however in my world I would have had someone manage to save the dragon at the last minute XD**

**FairyTail IsLife/I Live FairyTail: lol it was funny because until you pointed out that you had a new name I totally didn't notice, I just knew it was you XD **

**To be honest I didn't really think about where they learned their magic from in this world, but now that I am, I will say no, they were taught by humans with the same names as the dragons in Fairy Tail world, but their masters were humans who learned it from humans and in this world none of them have to fear turning into a dragon because of their magic. Several generations back the Dragon Slayers really did slay dragons, but they have become a rarity and the while their magic does have the strength to take down a dragon, nobody who has been one in the past three or four generations has actually done so.**

**Lol I totally did that because of Jellal's past XD I did consider Gajeel too for the same reason, but I just had to do it to Jellal for some reason XD**

**Awesome, I'll check out the song in a bit :D And I had an idea come for a Colu/ish fic, but we'll see if I can find time to write it and if it comes out as good on paper as it does in my head at the moment XD**

**FireShifter: Thanks, I really liked writing about them all being there together :D It was one of my most favorite parts about this story actually :D**

**I can remember one of my teachers reading Swiss Family Robinson to us, but we didn't get to finish it before it had to go back to the library and for some reason he didn't renew it, so we left off like halfway between one of their adventures and building projects XD I wish I could find a copy of that version, it was slightly different than any other I have read, but I don't remember enough of it to go looking for it. I loved it when my mom would read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe to us!**

**Thanks so much for the review and kind words!**

**el7293671: Thanks for the review :D I hope the . you left means you liked it :D**

**FTAnt: Yay, glad you liked the last chapter! I love being able to show off how they are both their rocks. And I'm not sure if anyone caught it, because it was relatively subtle, Natsu after receiving the book from Lucy started calling her Luce. It was my way of showing how their friendship dynamic has changed a little :D lol I have read books out loud like that before, but only to my nephew or other young kids I have babysat and only when there were no adults/other people my own age around XD**


	7. Chapter 7

Wendy was backing away from him and the other Dragon Slayers were just about to lunge, when Erza and Gray jumped in-between them and Natsu, much like Lucy had done to them many days ago, as the former was calling out "Wait! He means us no harm!" Laxus scoffed and asked "How can you be sure?" "Because this is Natsu!" Gray declared feeling a small sense of déjà vu and earning a gasp from everyone gathered. "Natsu!?" Wendy exclaimed, causing the dragon to turn his head back towards her and try to give his signature grin, though that was definitely more scary than charming in his dragon form.

"Natsu, what happened? Where's Lucy?" Erza demanded, as the others recovered from their shock. Natsu huffed and let out a low growl of annoyance. "Come on Natsu, quit playing games already and tell us what's the matter!" Gray urged. "He can't." Erik said, "I can hear his thoughts. He lost his voice." Natsu turned gleefully towards Erik, nearly knocking over Sting and Rouge with his tail as he asked Erik to say what he was thinking to the others. Erik nodded before continuing "Lucy and Natsu were visiting the cave they had stayed in while Natsu recovered from his injuries that Jose's men had inflicted on him. As they were leaving, Jose himself showed up and demanded Lucy come with him and be his bride."

At this, there was a moment were those who didn't know Lucy's secret started to speculate as to why Jose would want Lucy as a bride. Both Cana and Makarov as well as Erza and Levy shared knowing glances, but no one put forth that knowledge, holding their peace as Natsu, through Erik, continued "When Natsu tried to attack him, Jose blasted him in the throat, sending him flying out of the cave. He thinks it must have been some sort of a disintegration spell or something, for Jose seemed to think he was dead and didn't bother checking. He was able to remain conscious long enough to hear Lucy agree to go with him."

"If it was some sort of disintegration spell, what kept Natsu from dying then?" asked Sting, Wendy was already at Natsu's throat and healing it, so the next words actually came from his own mouth, finally letting the others hear that he was, indeed, Natsu. "It was probably my scarf that protected me. It was made out of my scales, Lucy made it for me so I could take on a human shape. I wanted to be around people without them running and being scared of me."

Everyone felt a little sad and embarrassed about how they had reacted to him landing in their camp. Yes they were essentially in enemy territory, but Natsu had been trying to act docile and yet they had been ready to attack him without learning why he had come to them. If it hadn't been for Erza and Gray, the Dragon Slayers may have earned their title at the cost of one that the Fairy Tail members called friend. At that moment, a chuckle was heard from the Fairy Tail Guild Master, cutting the tension from the air.

"Well your dragon form could help us out. Jose doesn't know you are a dragon either nor does he know that you're here for Lucy just like we are. We could surprising him with an aerial attack. Do you think that you could take the Dragon Slayers, Erza, Jellal, Levy, Gray and Juvia with you?" Natsu considered this, it would be a heavy load, but he should be able to manage it. Nodding he said "I should be able to. It will be a tight squeeze and I will have to carry some in my claws." Honestly he wasn't entirely sure he could handle the weight of that many or that they would really all fit even with him carrying some, but he would try anything to help Lucy. Makarov gave a gleeful chuckle and said "Good, let's go teach Jose he can't mess with Fiore unless he wants to mess with us mages!"

Cheers went up as Natsu lowered himself to the ground for the Dragon Slayers and company to climb aboard, Gajeel saying "You better not drop us, lizard." Natsu chuckled and said teasingly "With that kind of nickname I am finding it really tempting." They may have lost the secret passageway attack angle with the capture of Lucy, but they had gained the aerial attack now that Natsu's secret was out of the bag. He found he didn't mind so much that they knew, since once they knew it was him and he meant no harm they had just accepted him. He couldn't wait to tell Lucy the good news, he was determined to free her as quickly as possible.

Jellal was a bit hesitant about riding on his back, so he wrapped his tail around him and he also ended up having to pick up Gajeel and Erik in his front claws and would have to grab Sting and Rogue with his back ones once he was in the air, there wasn't enough room for them on his back just like he had thought. Before flying off, he turned to Makarov and asked "Do you want me to come back for more after I drop them off?"

Makarov shook his head and replied "Stay with them, they may need your help depending on how many of Jose's men are there wherever you land. Thankfully with night almost upon us, it should give you kids' good cover. Stick to the original plan we had." Natsu nodded and then took to the air. "We're coming for you Luce!" he thought to himself.

XXX

Meanwhile, Lucy glared at Jose from her forced position in the throne room. He had called for the royal chess set to be brought forth, something that didn't make any sense to her. Sure they played chess in the castle, but they didn't have what she would call a royal chess set. Jose saw her confusion and smirked as he said "This is a very, special set, shall we say." Lucy didn't comment, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a reply.

When Jose saw she wasn't going to speak, he scowled, this was not the reaction he had wanted. He was tempted to slap her, but he wanted her looking beautiful for their wedding, so he refrained… for now. "Bring me the king piece, Lucy dear." He said as the chess set was placed on a small table near her. Lucy was about to ask which king, but saw it was the only piece on the board. Picking it up, she felt a strange magic coming from it, but made no comment as keeping quiet seemed to annoy Jose and she wasn't about to try to please him.

Saying nothing, she handed it to him and stepped back out of his reach, fingers curling around Natsu's scarf which rested against her own neck now. How she wished he was here with her. She watched Jose set the king piece on the ground, trying not to look too curious as to what he was doing when he started to wave his staff over it. Lucy wasn't sure what he was doing, but after a moment it became clear. The king piece started not only to grow, but to take on a more human shape until finally, there stood her father before her!

"Couldn't have him running off while I went looking for you. It took a few days to get everything together to make it happen, so be in awe at this rare spell, my dear." Jose said, trying to preen a little, but Lucy was too happy at the sight of her father alive and well to notice him. "Dad!" she exclaimed, rushing in to hug him. "Lucy, you're alright!" he cried, opening his arms just in time to receive her. As they finished hugging, he noticed Jose in the room with him and pushed Lucy behind him as he said "You! Leave my castle at once!"

"Not without my bride." Jose said with a smirk. "I told you, I wouldn't marry you until we had my father's blessing." Lucy replied firmly. "And I will never give my blessing for her to marry you. So leave!" Jude said, keeping Lucy behind him and inadvertently giving her room to remove her keys from where she had hid them. Jose had underestimated her, not even bothering to check if she carried any form of weapon as he thought her to be a helpless princess. Still, if she could keep the knowledge of her magic from him a bit longer than all the better.

She quietly summoned Leo, who knowing that Lucy didn't want him revealing her attachment to him, said nothing about his summoner. Instead he got right to work going after Jose, who was taken by surprise. Lucy tugged on her father's sleeve and said "Come on, now's our chance!" They ran out of the throne room and Lucy headed towards Gildarts' room. The castle was eerily quiet and she whispered to her father "Where is everyone?" "I'm not sure, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say they are in the dungeon. Jose wouldn't want anyone loyal to me out and about."

"What about Gildarts?" Lucy asked. "I'm afraid that he was in the same area as I was when he did whatever he did to me. I'm not sure what happened to him." Jude replied. "Well you were turned into the king chess piece, what would a wizard be turned into?" Lucy asked looking around a corner before motioning her father to move on with her. "A good question, we'll have to keep our eyes open." Jude replied. The pair said nothing more, having to hide here and there from Jose's men, especially when they heard Jose calling out that they had escaped. Lucy could tell Leo had returned to the Spirit World, at least he had bought them some time.

They heard more guards coming when they were still several halls away from Gildarts room and so they ducked once again into a nearby room. Lucy glared as she could tell by the items strewn about that this was the room Jose had taken up occupation in. Suddenly the voices outside drew closer and Lucy looked around for something to bar the door with. She saw a walking stick nearby that looked sturdy and she grabbed it, but that same weird energy that had been in the chess piece was in it. Could this be Gildarts?

She didn't really have time to look it over, her and her father could hear the voices outside the door. She shoved it into his hands and whispered "Hide this in your robes. It may be Gildarts, it has the same magic energy the chess piece had." Thankfully her father didn't pause to ask questions. Barely was the walking stick secreted away in a deep pocket in his kingly robes, when the door opened. "Well it seems Jose's new bride is a little eager for her wedding night to begin, what with being in my lord's chambers and all. Come on you two."

Lucy acted every part the pampered princess, sticking her nose in the air as she passed their captors. If only they could have made it to Gildarts' room, they could have escaped using the secret passageway. Oh well, at least they had found the walking stick and whether it was Gildarts or someone else, Lucy would do her best to keep them from Jose's clutches. Now, with escape probably not possible anymore, she would have to resort to stalling and hoping that the others came quickly to her aid.

Soon, both she and her father were back in the throne room, a rather perturbed and beaten up looking Jose was waiting for them. "I don't know where the Celestial Wizard is hiding, but when we find them, we shall make them pay for you almost escaping." Jose muttered. Lucy barely held back her sigh of relief, so he hadn't figured out that it was her magic. Jose's smile returned, Lucy his focus as he sweetly asked "Now where were we on our wedding plans?"

Lucy frowned and boldly said "Nowhere, we didn't get my father's blessing and even if we did, why would I want to marry you? You have done nothing but terrorize my people. Where are my servants and what did you do to Gildarts?" Jose practically growled, his smile having fallen off his face as Lucy spoke, and said "You insolent brat! Many would die to be in your place." Lucy highly doubted it, he was one of the ugliest men she had ever seen, both inside and out.

"Maybe so, but I am not one of them." Lucy replied coolly, "Now if you even want to think about me cooperating, you will answer my questions." Jose growled and Jude could only stand and stare in awe of his daughter. When push came to shove, she knew how to stand up for herself and her people. Perhaps he could rethink this whole arranged marriage thing. For now though, he needed to sit, for while he hadn't been having his medicine since the attack and had been feeling a bit better, oddly, before apparently becoming a chess piece, he still needed to rest often. Lucy noticed her father's energy was draining and carefully took him by the arm to lead him to his throne.

Jose glared at her, not only for ignoring him, but for caring more about her father then him. Once her father was taken care of, she turned her attention back to Jose. "Now, are you going to tell me where my people are and what you have done with Gildarts?" Jose could see that they weren't going to get anywhere if he didn't at least answer a few questions, so he said "Your people are down in the dungeon, as for Gildarts, I'm sure your father told you what happened to him."

"Yes, but what did you turn him into?" Lucy questioned, staring him down as she did so. Jose smirked as he looked down at his staff and said "He makes a good magic staff, don't you think?" So the walking stick wasn't Gildarts, interesting. Now all she had to do was get the staff away from him so they could return him to Cana safely. Much as it disgusted her, she needed to start playing along for the time being. Hopefully her father would catch on.

Lucy flashed him a brilliant smile before saying "See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now, we still have to wait for my father's blessing, but we can start with the planning now." Jude and Jose looked at her in surprise, but her father realized quickly that it was just a ruse. Thankfully Jose did not. "Well, that's more like it. What shall we discuss first, my dear?" "Well for starters I need a dress. Then we need to set a date, invite the guest, make sure we have the food picked out, plus the cake, oh and we have to pick out colors…" Jose held up his hands and exclaimed "Woah, woah, woah, is this really all necessary?!" Lucy gasped, somewhat dramatically, as Jude said with a chuckle, "Clearly you do not understand how important a wedding is to a woman. And you know what they say, happy wife, happy life. It took my Layla almost a year to plan ours."

"A YEAR!?" Jose yelled, Lucy having all she could do to hide a smirk as she said "Yeah and she had both my grandmothers helping her plan. So it will probably take me a little longer." Lucy looked over at her father and could tell he was tired so she said "If you will excuse me, I must take my father to bed, he is not well. I think we should start planning tomorrow, when we are all fresh and alert." She waited for no response, but simply left the room with her father. Jose did not stop them, but they were guarded all the way to their rooms. There would be no making a break for Gildarts' room this time.

Nor would there be any discussions in private, at least as far as Jose was concerned there wouldn't be. If they were lucky, they would not have discovered the secret passageway that connected Lucy to her parent's room. Layla had insisted on them having those rooms from the moment Lucy was born and it had been useful when she got older and had woken up from nightmares or if she wasn't feeling well. Now it would serve a new purpose. Once she had said goodnight to her father, she made her way to her room. Guards stood outside both of their rooms. Lucy smirked as she made her way quickly through the passageway, score one for her kingdom.

Jude had expected his daughter to do that and was waiting for her. "Lucy, I know it was just a ruse, but what are you thinking?" "I didn't come back alone dad. Gildarts sent me to get help from the guild Fairy Tail in Magnolia. All of the mages from the guilds in Magnolia volunteered to come here and help. I was helping to scout things out with a friend when we were discovered by Jose. They plan on attacking as soon as the other guilds get here, which should be sometime tomorrow. If we can just hold off until then…" "Then we will be saved! Lucy you are brilliant." Jude praised her.

Lucy blushed and said "In the meantime, our goal should be to get that magic staff away from him somehow. And we should put that walking stick inside the secret passageway for now, we can rescue whoever is trapped within it later." Jude handed her the walking stick and said "Take it back with you when you go." Lucy accepted it from her father and took a good look at it for the first time. The place where someone would hold onto it was shaped like a dragon's head, its eyes were made of rubies, well they would be if it wasn't someone trapped inside of it anyways.

"I should get back to my room in case they check on me. Good night dad, and try not to worry." Lucy said as she hugged her father. "That will be impossible, but I'm glad you've got help on the way." Lucy smiled at him one last time before heading to the secret passageway, leaving the walking stick halfway between their rooms for safe keeping. Barely had she returned to her own room when she heard a knock at the door. "Princess, I've been sent to help you prepare for the night."

Lucy recognized the voice and said fondly "Come in Spetto." Once the servant had entered, Lucy rushed to her and hugged the older servant. "Princess, you aren't going to marry that man are you?" Spetto asked with concern a few minutes later." "I will if I have to, but I hope not." Lucy desperately wanted to set the servant's mind totally at ease, but she couldn't help worry that Jose may have some way of listening in, maybe using some magic on Spetto to make it so he could hear what she heard. After all, why would he release one of Lucy's servants if not but to lull her into a sense of ease?

She knew that there were members of the Phantom Realm that were here that were also female, she had seen them in the halls. No, Spetto was probably an unwitting pawn of Jose. "Still, tomorrow I must start wedding plans, so will you help me get to bed so I can get a goodnight's sleep?" Lucy asked Spetto. The servant nodded, her look of concern so strong on her face that Lucy almost cracked and told her everything would be fine, but she held firm and, later, with a last goodnight to Spetto, she turned in for the night as Spetto exited the room.

XXX

Spetto was sent to help her in the morning as well and Lucy found her father waiting for her at the breakfast table. Unfortunately, she also found Jose waiting for her there. "Good morning dear." Jose said with a smirk, as Lucy walked into the room. Lucy nodded her head at him and kissed her father's cheek, earning another glare from Jose. Why wasn't his bride showing him any affection like that? Breakfast was eaten in relative silence, only being broken by Jose making small chuckles.

Lucy wasn't sure what he found so funny and frankly she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. She touched the scarf and that irritated Jose to no end. "Why are you still wearing that ridiculous scarf!?" he demanded to know. Lucy stilled, then she quickly came up with something she hoped her father would cover for her with. "It was my mother's." Lucy said softly. Jose sputtered and said "But that boy was wearing it!?" "He was cold, I couldn't let him freeze to death." Lucy said, her eye's flashing dangerously enough.

Jose seemed to buy this story, either that or he didn't want to deal with an angry Lucy, whatever the reason, he just nodded and went back to his food. She was just grateful he couldn't catch a glimpse of her necklace. Lucy didn't dare look at her father, but if she had, she would have seen a glare on his face that matched hers aimed at Jose. He wasn't sure what the real story behind Lucy's scarf was, but he wouldn't give her away.

XXX

It was late afternoon and they still hadn't managed to get ahold of Jose's magic staff. Maybe he knew that they wanted to do so or maybe he was always this possessive of it, whatever reason, except for when he ate, it never left his hands. Lucy was running out of ideas, at least good ones, to get it away from him. Her last resort was soon coming into more than likely being a reality and when her latest idea of asking him for help reaching something didn't cause him to put it down, she knew she needed to do so.

She turned to him after a half hour had passed, not wanting him to think she was asking these things on purpose, as she asked "Do you know how to dance?" Jose seemed taken aback by this and Jude's left eye twitched at the thought of his daughter getting that close to this creep. "What?!" Jose asked, stuttering a bit. Lucy smiled at him, eyes closed as she asked "Do you know how to dance? I want to dance at our reception."

"Well, it's been some time since I last danced." Jose chuckled nervously. Lucy frowned at him as she opened her eyes and said "We need to practice then before our wedding. Come on, show me your dance moves!" Lucy tugged on his hand as she finished, holding down the bile that threatened to escape her mouth at the thought of him touching her. He seemed too stunned that she would ask this of him to consider that it would mean setting down his magic staff, for he did so without hesitation. Lucy motioned towards the musical instruments and said "What are we going to do about the lack of music."

Jose caught what she meant and used his magic to start the instruments playing. Soon Lucy had him totally mesmerized, she didn't dare look to see if her father was using this time wisely to get the magic staff out of there. She thanked her mother for insisting on those dance lessons when she was little. When she grew older she loved them, but as a kid she had hated them and if she had been allowed to pick she would have dropped them and never looked back. They were serving her well now. Jose was clumsy looking next to her and so it was easy to distract him with lessons.

Soon the older mage started panting and saying "Can't we stop for a while?" Lucy smiled and begged "Oh please, just one more! It's been so long since I danced and I'm really enjoying myself." Jose smiled as best he could and said "Well just a bit longer, but then I really need a break." Lucy grinned widely and after one more song, agreed to take a break. Her father was just where they had left him practically, though he was sitting in a chair now. The staff, however, was not. Thankfully Jose was too exhausted to think about it at the moment, in fact he bid them goodnight.

Lucy smiled at her father and he winked at her. He had successfully gotten the staff into the same place the walking stick was. Jose's magic wasn't weak by no means, but since the staff was made up of Gildarts and his magic it also meant he could tap into that magic, so he was weaker without it. "I think I will turn in too, Lucy, what about you?" Jude said to his daughter. "I think I will take a walk dad, all that dancing wore me out, but the outdoors sounds refreshing."

Jude gave her a hug and said "Be careful." Lucy grinned back and said "I will dad." She wasn't followed this time by a guard, maybe Jose's seeming acceptance of her made them lax or perhaps it was just as simple as him going to bed and forgetting to give the orders, but whatever the reason she wasn't going to let this moment pass her by. The coolness of the night air was a welcome relief after all the dancing she had done.

She smiled to herself, reaching under the scarf to touch the necklace with Natsu's scale in it. She had tapped into the magic a little to sustain herself while dancing, or else she would have probably been panting like Jose was at the end. Lucy was starting to roll her shoulders when she heard a familiar flapping sound. She looked up into the sky with excitement, hardly daring to hope that what she heard was real. Suddenly from above she heard "Lucy!" shouted by Natsu. He had caught her scent and was quickly making his way to the ground and her.

**Answers to Reviews!**

**Ushindeshi: Thanks :D As you can see, things worked out for Natsu :D**

**I Live FairyTail: lol well I would argue that a lot of the couples, especially Nalu would be best friends, which can always lead to more. But don't worry that's pretty much the only time I think Kinana gets mentioned as being his girlfriend (or mentioned at all in this story) and I did it more as a way to explain why Cobra would listen to her. At least when it comes to my best friends, whenever I tell them not to do anything it seems they always go and do it anyways… So I figured Cobra would be more likely to listen if it was a relationship XD I think they would make a cute couple but I'm also cool with them being friends, it depends on my mood of the day XD**

**Lol yep Lucy was using her brain and out thinking him XD**

**Nah its not stupid to have different accounts, I used to have a couple of different ones on other sites to make it easier to keep things organized in my brain XD**

**I haven't seen the movie Avatar, the trailers I saw didn't look to interesting at the time it came out to me. Who knows though, I might give it a shot someday. Right now I'm so behind on pretty much everything that I don't know when that would be though XD**

**FireShifter: I'm so glad you "enjoyed" my cliff hanger XD **

**FTAnt: lol while I am a sucker for the damsel in distress type stories, it's fun also to see a character showing their strength like Lucy is in this story XD It's funny because when I started writing this one, I didn't really plan on her having all of these strong moments, but I really am rather pleased with them in the end :D**

**Aww thanks for all the praise :D Bahhaha oh please don't give me more ideas, I already have so many and no time at all to work on them XD I would be so down to reading a spy story with all of these characters. Like Fairy Tail is some elite spy ring or something, idk XD if someone reads this note and runs with it, please let me know if you write it, like I said I would be down with reading it XD**


	8. Chapter 8

Lucy was waiting for them when they landed, Natsu's scarf in her hands. She was surprised to see that it wasn't just Erza and Gray with him, but Levy, Jellal, Juvia and all of the Dragon Slayers to boot! Natsu gently put the ones he was carrying in his claws and tail down, though he did "accidentally" drop Gajeel a little, before settling his own legs on the ground. Rushing up to Natsu as the last of them dismounted him, Lucy hugged his neck as she threw the scarf around it. His friends, who had never witnessed his transformation and even Erza and Gray, watched in awe as his dragon form was shed away for a human one.

Then Natsu and Lucy gave each other a real hug as Lucy said "I thought you were dead. When you didn't become a dragon right away after losing your scarf, that was all I could think of." "I thought that was weird too, maybe the transition didn't happen fast because of the hit the scarf took of Jose's powers." Natsu thought out loud. "You two can catch up later. Lizard breath's shout probably alerted Jose to us being here." Gajeel stated, earning a growl from Natsu, a noise which surprised the others, but Natsu no longer felt the need to hold back his more dragon like noises.

Lucy broke up the possible fight to be by laughing, causing everyone to look at her. After she collected herself she explained "I don't know how fast Jose will be on getting out here, he seemed pretty tired when I last saw him. But his men will definitely be here soon. Let's get those gates open for the others while we have a chance." Lucy assumed the basic idea was still the same as when they were going to use the secret passageways and she was correct. Really, the only thing that had changed was instead of being an inside job it was an aerial attack.

As they followed Lucy to the gatehouse, Erza asked "Why is Jose so tired Lucy? It seems like you know more about that." Lucy explained "Well Jose is able to turn people into objects, like he turned my father into a chess piece. It takes time he said, so I don't think we have to worry about that ourselves, but Gildarts has been turned into a magic staff and Jose was using him to increase his own power. So my father and I have been trying to get him to put it down all day so we could grab it, finally I went to my last resort and made him dance with me. My dad was able to get it away from him, but I made Jose dance until he couldn't hardly move."

Natsu frowned as Lucy laughed and he said "Seems kind of dangerous to me." Lucy gave him a sideways look, while Gajeel said "I think what the lizard is trying to say is that he's glad he didn't know or otherwise he would have been worried about you and wanting to pummel Jose even more than he already does." Natsu blushed, but tried to cover for it by grumbling under his breath that he wasn't a lizard. Lucy smiled at Natsu and said "You can still pummel him all you want. I don't think he'll find the magic staff where my father hid it. The necklace you gave me helped a lot, kept me going while he started panting for breath." Natsu grinned at her, enjoying the idea of Lucy showing Jose up, before they all walked into the gatehouse.

Several of Jose's men were there keeping watch and had seen the dragon land in the courtyard. Lucy was pushed out of the way of one bolt of magic by Natsu, who roared as he ran at the man who had aimed at her. While everyone else took on a mage, Lucy ran to the controls she had learned to use as a little girl. It was for one of her not so great escapes that she had done so, but the knowledge had stuck with her, for this door was temperamental. She could tell that Jose's men had been having trouble with it and she chuckled to herself before she adjusted the controls so she could open the doors with ease. All of the mages that hadn't ridden in on Natsu charged through them as they swung open.

They were relieved to see Lucy was safe, but no one stopped to say anything as many of Jose's own mages descended on them. Neither group was making much headway until Natsu took off his scarf, tossing it to Lucy. His dragon form scared many of Jose's men into retreating and those who stood up to him and the other guilds were severely outnumbered. "We have to get to my father and the servants, Jose will try to use them as bargaining chips if we don't. The servants are being kept down in the dungeon, my father is in his room." Lucy said to her friends.

"Gray, Juvia, Jellal and I will go down to the dungeons and free your servants." Erza said. "I'll go with Lucy to get her dad." Natsu said. "The rest of us will start rounding up Jose's men and, hopefully, Jose himself." Levy added. Everyone nodded, wished each other luck and rushed off to do the things they said they would. Natsu waited as Lucy wrapped his scarf around him once more before they entered the castle. She took him by the hand and led him through the many corridors.

Soon they reached her father's doors, the guard was no longer there, probably having been called into the fight, and she was about to enter when she heard Jose's voice. Yanking Natsu back, she pulled him into her room, knowing he must have heard the evil mage, for his teeth were bared in a snarl. He remembered that voice giving the order to shoot at him. "Jose is in with my father. I'm going to go in and distract him, you need to take the secret passageway. Leave the items that you'll see in there where you found them, we don't want Jose getting his hands on them and disappearing." Lucy whispered.

Natsu nodded, he half wanted to ask how she was going to distract Jose, but he had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer. Lucy showed him the secret passageway that opened up behind her wardrobe and just before he entered it, she kissed him on the cheek. "For good luck." She said with a blush before heading out of the room. Natsu just grinned before turning and entering the passageway. When he reached the end, he listened in for the right moment to enter, though he didn't like what he was hearing.

"Jose, you must protect this castle if you ever expect me to marry you. They are saying there is a dragon out there! We are sitting ducks without Gildarts if you do nothing!" Lucy was exclaiming. "Enough of the act, my dear, we will have our wedding now. Once we do, nothing your little friends do will save you or them. In fact it will give me cause to attack Magnolia since they are all from there and here with their king's blessing." Jose's reply could be heard.

"I know nothing about an act, now are you going to help us or not!?" Lucy demanded. Instead of a direct answer, Jose asked "Where is your mother's scarf?" Lucy pretended to look down frantically, saying "I must have dropped it in my hurry to get here. Please, we must go find it!" Jose laughed bitterly and said "I am a Master Wizard. I've been watching you with the aid of my magic since I retired after our dance lessons, do you not think I know what happened to the scarf?" Lucy paled only slightly, and Natsu figured now was as good as time as any to make his appearance, bursting through the door of the secret passageway as Jose was about to grab Lucy.

Natsu's entrance was enough to startle him so that he missed, Lucy pulling herself out of reach of him and slowly making her way to Natsu's side as Jose laughed evilly. Jude had also made his way to Natsu, he refused to be used as a pawn to get either of these two to listen to whatever the mad man known as Jose would will. "Ah, so the dragon finally makes an appearance, and a dramatic entrance to boot, shall I give you a round of applause." Natsu just stood glaring at the man as he continued "I thought my men succeeded in killing you weeks ago and I didn't recognize you in that human form when I blasted you. I'm getting tired of how you keeping turning up."

Jose's tone had turned bitter at the last part and Natsu had enough of listening to him. "Yeah, well this is the last time you'll ever see me, cause I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Fiore, Lucy and her father." Natsu declared. Jose seemed amused, deciding to throw in a bargaining chip to try to get Natsu on his side. "You have red scales, I'm assuming you must be related to that other, larger dragon." Natsu eyes widened, could he be talking about Igneel?

Jose laughed and he said "I thought so. Wouldn't you like to know what has become of him?" Natsu looked down. More than anything he wanted to know what happened to his dad, why he had left him alone. But then he felt Lucy's hand on his arm and he turned his head slightly to look at her. Her eyes told him she trusted him and understood if he were to make the decision to listen to Jose to get the information on his father. That's when Natsu realized that as much as he wanted to see his dad, he would never want to turn his back on his friends, especially Lucy. Igneel wouldn't like it if he did anyways.

Natsu chuckled, and Jose gulped as Natsu raised his head to look at him. "You just made your last mistake. Whatever you did to Igneel, I'm going to make you pay for it!" Lucy summoned Leo to join in the fight and the three of them made their move towards Jose, who simply turned and ran. But Lucy was right about exhausting him, for he hadn't made it far when Natsu tackled him, rolling around on the floor a few feet with him. Jose got in a good blow and was making to stand and run, when Lucy caught him with her whip, her weapon which Leo had been holding onto for her as it had needed repairs, while at the same time Leo hit him with his magic.

Jose stumbled back to the floor where, after he took a wild shot with his magic and missed, Natsu grabbed him and gave him a knockout punch to the head. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief, saying "Well that was easier than I thought it would be. Natsu grinned over at her and as he slung Jose over his shoulder said "Guess dancing was just too much for him. Come on, let's take him to Master Makarov and see if we can help out anywhere else!" Lucy thanked Leo as he headed back to the Spirit World before following Natsu and his baggage of Jose. Natsu was disappointed to see most of the fighting was over and when the last few Phantom Realm mages saw Jose on his shoulder, they surrender.

Natsu pouted as he dropped Jose in front of Makarov unceremoniously, who said "While he is the leader of his own kingdom, I'm sure that he will face all of the surrounding kingdoms for their decision on what should be done in this matter. Jellal, see about getting some magic cuffs on him and then put him with the other prisoners." Jellal, who had just returned from helping free Lucy's servants, did as the Master asked of him. Lucy walked up to the Master and said "Do you know how to change people who have been turned into items back to normal? I found Gildarts and someone else trapped inside some."

Makarov nodded and said "Sure I can. Bring them here." Lucy went to get the staff and walking stick as Cana walked up and said "Did she just say my dad was trapped in some item!? Oh boy I can't wait to hold this over his head." Lucy soon returned with the items and her father, who thanked everyone for their help as Makarov began his work. He first freed Gildarts who, upon seeing Cana, cried like a baby and said how much he missed his little girl. Cana rolled her eyes, but returned the hug he gave her happily.

As Makarov was getting ready to do the walking stick, Lucy said "Hey, dad, isn't that your doctor over there?" Among Jose's men was, indeed, Jude's doctor. "I knew there was something I didn't like about him!" Lucy exclaimed. Gildarts came up and said "Yes, it turns out Jose has had his sights on your father's kingdom for longer than I thought. Just before he turned us into objects, he mentioned how he had stepped up his plans after hearing about Jude's beautiful daughter. Apparently in the Phantom Realm, your birth announcement had you labeled as Luke and so all this time he thought he would be killing your father slowly and dealing with you later. The doctor wasn't able to contact him or it might have been even sooner that he had attacked us."

Just then Makarov finished the spell and the walking stick, grew and grew until a huge dragon filled the yard. Everyone stared in awe except for one, excited soul. "Dad!" Natsu shouted, throwing his scarf once more to Lucy as he ran towards Igneel, changing again into his dragon form. He tackled Igneel who chuckled as he said "Natsu, I'm glad to see you're okay." "I missed you Dad." Natsu said, tears flowing from his eyes. Igneel looked disturbed as he asked "How long have I been gone?"

Lucy walked up to the dragon, the only one really brave enough to do so even though this was Natsu's dad. "For several months, Igneel. Natsu waited for a few months before leaving the cave in search of you and then it was almost two more since I met him and now." Igneel looked surprised at the sound of a human voice coming from his feet. Curious upon seeing Lucy, he turned a paw over. Lucy took it for what it was and stepped onto it, allowing Igneel to lift her to eye level. Natsu crowed "Hey dad, you want to see something neat?"

Without waiting for an answer, Natsu flew next to Lucy and waited as she wrapped his scarf around his neck, timing the transformation so he would be safely in his father's claws. Igneel's eyes widened before he chuckled and said "You look good as a human son. Where did you learn such magic?" "Lucy learned how to make an item that could turn me into a human from one of Gildarts books." Natsu said proudly. Lucy looked up meekly and offered "If you would like, I can make one for you too." "That would be lovely, thank you Lucy." Igneel said, humor evident in his eyes.

After securing a scale from him, Lucy decided on a simple ring for Igneel. That way he could start wearing it practically immediately, which he did. Igneel chuckled, taking a look at his human form as everyone else stared in amazement at the magic Lucy had done, before saying "Not bad. Now that we are all down to the same size, how about we start this story from the top?"

So Igneel started the story, telling how he had gone out on patrol like he always did, he never trusted the people from the Phantom Realm, and knew they at some point they would attempt something sneaky. The last thing he had remembered seeing was a bright light and Jose's grinning face. "He must have learned your patrol route and set up his trap along the way." Natsu declared, knowing that his father hardly ever veered off course during his patrols. Igneel nodded his agreement as Natsu picked up the story.

When his father heard he had been shot down from the skies, he threatened to go down to the dungeons where Jose and his men now were and teach them not to mess with his son. Natsu blushed at his father's attention, as Lucy just laughed at Natsu's discomfort. From there, Lucy and Natsu both took turns telling the story, Lucy taking over at one point to tell how her nearly full day in Jose's company had been and Natsu talking about waking up and finding that not only was he in his dragon form but he couldn't talk. Then they finished with everyone telling about their versions of the battle.

It was late when the last of the stories had been told, in fact morning would soon be dawning. The Dragon Slayers apologized for scaring Natsu back when he first learned about their magic, even though they themselves didn't know he was a dragon. "And Lucy is a princess! Who would have thought that both of you could have kept such secrets relatively to yourselves?" Mira said with a smile. Lucy and Natsu grinned back as Jude stood up and said "You are all welcome to stay in the castle for what is left of tonight. Tomorrow night we shall celebrate!"

Everyone cheered at this before being shown to their rooms, Lucy inviting Levy and Erza to join her in a sleepover in her room. The three girls laughed and talked for a long time, feeling carefree for the first time since this whole ordeal began. Lucy and Jude were up early, despite how short of a time they had been in bed, and Jude asked her to join him in his study. Jude turned to her once the door was closed and said "I am so proud of you, Lucy. You accomplished so much during our time apart."

"And not only that, the way you stood up to Jose… I don't think you need anyone by your side until you are ready for it." Jude continued. Lucy held her hands up to her face, her eyes watering as she asked "Does that mean I don't have to marry Dan?" Jude chuckled and said "Yes, I only wanted you to marry because I thought that you needed someone to help you rule this kingdom. I think that you can do that just fine on your own if it comes to that, you've shown me that in how you handle yourself in Jose's presence."

"However," he said, leaning in with a conspiratorial smile, "I wouldn't be opposed to having a dragon for a son-in-law." Lucy blushed, gently whacking her father on his forearm as she joined him in his laugh. Though if she was to admit it to herself, Lucy wouldn't mind having a certain dragon be her husband. A thought which was compounded as Natsu praised her later for pretty much everything and anything that she had done in the time they were separated as they hung out later that day. Lucy didn't know about the talk Natsu and Igneel had had themselves earlier.

XXX

"That Lucy is something else, huh son? Worthy of a dragon if you ask me." Igneel questioned and lightly teased Natsu. Natsu's blush would be all the answer he needed, but then Natsu looked down at his feet as he said seriously "I just wish that there was some way we could be together, forever. She's amazing dad!" "Perhaps there is. Don't ask me any questions, but I am going to have a talk with Jude and an old friend." Igneel replied, seeing how earnest his son was about this. Natsu looked confused, but did as his father asked and didn't question him.

XXX

That afternoon, during the celebration, Natsu and Lucy danced and laughed and sang and ate and drank and did many other things with their friends. They also stole a few minutes for just the two of them, both of them now only truly aware of their feelings for each other. They had gone from being strangers, to friends to something more with the promise of a possible future together in just a matter of months. "I don't know if I can ever tell you how amazing I think you are Luce." Natsu said as he touched her cheek gently with his right hand. Lucy blushed, looking down briefly as she said "I feel the same way about you Natsu." Who knows where that moment would have led if they had remained uninterrupted, but they were called over by their friends when they need another pair for a dance just then.

Later, when Natsu was in the middle of his third plate of food in just as many minutes and while Lucy stood there laughing happily at his appetite, they both noticed Igneel motioning them to join him. Lucy and Natsu slipped from the party, their absence going unnoticed entirely this time by their friends. When they joined Igneel, they found her father and a strange, giant being that Lucy felt a strong connection to, though why she didn't know.

"I am the Celestial Spirit King, Igneel and Jude have been telling me about your unique problem." the being said. Now Lucy understood the connection, but both she and Natsu looked confused and yet hopeful as Natsu voiced the question they both had, "And you can help us?" "Indeed. Natsu, I can make it so switching forms doesn't require an object only your will to want to change into it. But there is one small catch to this." "And what is that?" Lucy asked worriedly. "The magic to stay in the shape he is in must come from another person or dragon, one who will also gain these same abilities." The Celestial Spirit King answered.

Lucy's eyes widened as Natsu started to ask "Are you saying…" "Yes, Lucy would be the source of this magic and thus be able to turn into a dragon at will too. I have a feeling that this doesn't bother either of you too much." he answered with humor in his voice. Natsu and Lucy looked at each other in excitement before turning back to the Celestial Spirit King and Lucy saying for both of them "No it doesn't." Natsu's face turned to concern as he asked "There won't be any side effect that will harm Luce will there?" "Or Natsu?" Lucy added her own thought of concern.

The Celestial Spirit King shook his head and said "No and even when one of you dies, from old age I hope, the other will still be able to change back and forth. Any kids you may have will possess this ability as well and will be able to share it with their future spouses and down through the generations it will continue. Plus the magic used is a one -time thing and won't take away from the other's magic energy when you aren't in your original form" Lucy and Natsu shared a grin and then turned to the Celestial Spirit King. "Alright, we'll do it." Said Lucy happily.

The Celestial Spirit King put a finger on each of their foreheads and they both felt their magic flowing differently, but not in a bad way. Once he was done, Natsu was the first to turn into a dragon, his red scales now had a few star like dots on them of white, possibly because of the Celestial World's involvement in the magic. "Come on Lucy, I want to see your dragon form." He cheered her on. Lucy looked at her father and he said "It's okay Lucy. I was offered the same magic and Igneel had been willing to do so with me, but I just accepted having an item to turn me into one if I feel like it."

Lucy smiled, happy to know her father could at least join her for a flight if he wished to, before turning towards Natsu. She closed her eyes as she thought about turning into a dragon, only opening them once she heard the gasp of appreciation from Natsu. Her scales were as white as a full, bright moon, though like Natsu, she had a few star like dots, though hers were a red that matched the same color as Natsu's main scale color. Looks like the star like dots were based off the other's scale color. "You look amazing!" Natsu exclaimed, "Come on, I'll teach you how to use those wings!"

With thank yous shouted over their shoulders, Natsu and Lucy took to the air, their fathers watching with smiles on their faces as the two flew about, laughing and enjoying each other's company in a whole new way. "I think Lucy will actually be planning a wedding soon." Jude said happily, Igneel's laugh acting as his agreement to the other father's words. They went in and joined the guilds, where Fairy Tail offered to relocate to Fiore to help in protecting it. Plus they wanted to be closer to Lucy and Natsu, having grown quite close to them in their time together.

"Where are Lucy and Natsu? We want to tell them the good news, that we'll be moving to Fiore." Levy asked Jude once they had secured his permission for the move and when they realized they didn't see the two anywhere. "Why don't you try looking for Lucy and Natsu outside? I think I saw them headed that way." Jude said with a smile. Natsu and Lucy both had heard that Lucy's father send their guild friends out to look for them, though only just barely, so caught up in the joy of Lucy's first flight were they, so they hurried to where Jude had sent their friends.

All the guild members had poured into the courtyard and were just starting to look for them, when Lucy and Natsu came flapping over the castle wall. Everyone was curious who the other dragon was, before the two landed and transformed. "Lucy, you're a dragon too!?" Gray exclaimed. Lucy laughed "Only since a few minutes ago. It was a gift from the Spirit King so that Natsu and I could be together." Everyone cheered before Erza informed Natsu and Lucy of their news.

Lucy and Natsu were ecstatic! Not only could they be together in either human or dragon form, but the friends who had become almost like family would be moving here! "I insist that you guys build your guild inside the castle walls!" Lucy proclaimed, "That way we can visit whenever we want!" "Or at least when you two aren't flying around together." Gray said with a chuckle. Lucy and Natsu turned to grin at each other. They knew that, for now at least, it would be awhile before they were content to be on the ground for long, but they would help their guild friends with their move.

"I know that you are a princess and soon to be future queen Lucy, and that you will one day, more than likely, be her king Natsu, but how would you two like to be members of Fairy Tail? After all, you are mages in your own rights." Makarov offered. Lucy and Natsu happily accepted the invitation, Lucy picking to put the guild mark on her hand where she could always see it and Natsu choosing to put it on his arm. His clothes always had that sleeve off anyways, so it would always be in sight.

Later that night, Natsu cuddled next to Lucy on the roof, both of them in their human forms, as he pulled out a book from his bag. "You know Luce, the dragon in the story really did have a happy ending, in as much as he got his wish, though I wish he had lived to enjoy it. But I got the answer to my wish today too, and I think I'll stick around to enjoy it for quite a while." Lucy chuckled before asking, "And what was your dragon wish Natsu?" "To be with you forever." Natsu said as he leaned in for a kiss.

**Answers to Reviews!**

**Ushindeshi: For sure!**

**I Live FairyTail: lol yeah, I also have a tendency to do that with him in my stories, but at the very beginning of this story I was like I want to do something different with Jude. Jose is for sure ugly XD I will check it out :D**

**FTAnt: I went back and forth on him or Warren being the one to talk on Natsu's behalf, but in the end I liked the idea of it being Erik most :D Yes, it was fun getting to play around with Jude a bit, I imagined that this is how his and Lucy's relationship would have been if he hadn't died before they had returned from the island. Lucy is a ninja XD Aww thanks for all the praise and such, it made me smile :D This really went so much bigger then I originally thought and, as I mentioned to you last night, it has got to be one of my favorites if not my favorite story I have written for Fairy Tail so far :D Less than 3 to you too!**

**FireShifter: Woot woot for the home team, am I right!? Lol yep, Jose isn't very smart to misjudge Lucy like that XD Hopefully this ending was satisfactory to you :D **


	9. Answer to Reviews!

Ember Reverie: Thanks so much :D And ditto about the happily-ever-afters :D

I Live FairyTail: I'm so glad you did!

Ushindeshi: I would love to see more dragon Lucy stories out there, it was such fun to write her part as one, even if it was so short. Who knows, I might do something more with that someday :D

FTAnt: lol well I needed to find a way for Lucy and Natsu to be together forever and while it was nice that Natsu could be both human and dragon, I just thought how much fun it would be if Lucy was one too XD Thanks so much!

FireShifter: I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Lucy and Natsu being able to be both was such a blast for me to write and I just loved the thought of that, I might rehash that idea someday because it was so fun :D


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